Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainCrime in Saint-Damien sits close to the middle of Canadian towns
Saint-Damien grades B for safety overall (#260 of 503 in Quebec): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Add to that, between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure fell, 61.4 to 53.7. None of the 3 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Annual rates stand at 10.8 violent incidents and 14.7 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size.
Statistics Canada, police-reported crime, 2023–2025 means. The index weighs each crime by its seriousness; rates are incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Measured across the Matawinie MRC: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Saint-Damien
A busy place, counted per resident
With 36% of its homes not lived in all year, Saint-Damien counts its crime against a smaller year-round population than the one that is there in season. How to read it ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Saint-Damien places 18th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Violence weighs more than the rest
Saint-Damien’s index splits into violent crime, 87.6 here and 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 46 against 62.8. By type ↓
A high clearance rate
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Saint-Damien’s police clear 43%, 59% of violent crime and 32% of the rest. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The B for Saint-Damien, and how it is built
The grade weighs the Crime Severity Index and its violent half, averaged over 2023–2025, against every Canadian town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more.
Its place: #260 of 503 in Quebec and #863 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What police record in Saint-Damien, by type
Against the typical town its size, Saint-Damien runs highest on motor vehicle theft (3 per 1,000 against 2.6). Fraud and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.7 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 44.3 | 0.8 | 49% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 15.3 | 0.3 | 92% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 5.3 | 0.09 | 75% |
| Robbery | 6.3 | 0.1 | 75% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 5 | 0.09 | 80% |
| Other violent violations | 16 | 0.3 | 73% |
| Breaking and entering | 131.3 | 2.3 | 20% |
| Possession of stolen property | 46 | 0.8 | 65% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 174 | 3 | 9% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 41.3 | 0.7 | 12% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 144.7 | 2.5 | 23% |
| Mischief | 96.7 | 1.7 | 24% |
| Weapons violations | 19.3 | 0.3 | 78% |
| Administration of justice violations | 92 | 1.6 | 100% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 16.7 | 0.3 | 60% |
| Drug violations | 48 | 0.8 | 85% |
| Impaired driving | 123 | 2.1 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 75 | 1.3 | 16% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment, incidents a year its own. Cleared: incidents solved by a charge or otherwise, as a share of those reported.
Incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 means, against the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Saint-Damien, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 61.4; the lightest was 2025, at 53.7. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Saint-Damien | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 53.7 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 57.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 61.4 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Saint-Damien, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Saint-Damien is 18th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonfield Ontario | 2,597 | 24.3 | 39.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Fossambault-sur-le-Lac Quebec | 2,505 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Saint-Polycarpe Quebec | 2,549 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 8 | Hatley Quebec | 2,512 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Saint-Mathieu Quebec | 2,642 | 41.6 | 59.8 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 15 | Saint-Éphrem-de-Beauce Quebec | 2,575 | 47.7 | 81.3 | B+ |
| 16 | Hébertville Quebec | 2,588 | 49.6 | 81.8 | B+ |
| 17 | Rosetown Saskatchewan | 2,600 | 54.6 | 46.6 | B |
| 18 | Saint-Damien Quebec | 2,569 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| 19 | Mandeville Quebec | 2,511 | 58 | 90.3 | B |
| 20 | Sainte-Victoire-de-Sorel Quebec | 2,599 | 58.7 | 84.9 | B |
| 21 | Lunenburg Nova Scotia | 2,523 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | High Prairie Alberta | 2,607 | 334.5 | 521.9 | D− |
The 40 Canadian towns of 2,500+ people closest in population; city neighbourhoods, city totals and reserves are left out. Towns on one police service or detachment share its index.
The Canadian towns closest to Saint-Damien in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
58,800 residents, about 620 violent incidents a year: the police area Saint-Damien belongs to, 2023–2025
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
Add about 840 property crimes and 420 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Saint-Damien
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Damien | 2,569 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| Sainte-Émélie-de-l'Énergie | 1,856 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| Saint-Jean-de-Matha | 5,415 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| Saint-Gabriel | 3,091 | 58 | 90.3 | B |
| Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon | 2,916 | 58 | 90.3 | B |
| Mandeville | 2,511 | 58 | 90.3 | B |
| Sainte-Béatrix | 2,388 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Saint-Damien. 3 neighbours report through the same police, so their figure is this one and they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Shared across the MRC. The Sûreté du Québec reports by MRC, so the figures cover every municipality it polices there, Saint-Damien among them.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- What the index measures. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Saint-Damien
Is Saint-Damien safe?
Against a typical 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Saint-Damien’s Crime Severity Index stands at 57.5 for 2023–2025. Its police record 10.8 violent incidents and 14.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Saint-Damien?
The three biggest groups are assault at 5.4, Criminal Code traffic offences at 4 and motor vehicle theft at 3, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Saint-Damien?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 13%, to 53.7 from 61.4.
How much of Saint-Damien’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 43% of crime (59% of violent crime, 32% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Saint-Damien and other places, so the figures are shared.
Source: Statistics Canada, police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025 (Statistics Canada Open Licence); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services (tables 35-10-0186 to 0190, 0061, 0063, 0064), 2023–2025 · Statistics Canada, Incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations, police services (35-10-0178 to 0185) · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).