Photo: Gabriel Picard · CC BY-SA 4.0Sainte-Croix sees less crime per resident than 81% of Canadian towns
None of the 3 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. On top of that, the Safety Grade comes out at A−, drawn from crime the police covering Sainte-Croix reported through 2023 to 2025: #90 of 503 in Quebec. Its violent half comes to 72.9 and its non-violent half to 30.8, where the norm is 85.7 and 62.8. The yearly rates were 10.3 violent incidents and 10.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts for the Lotbinière MRC.
What stands out about safety in Sainte-Croix
Police clear more here
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Sainte-Croix’s police clear 52%, 63% of violent crime and 41% of the rest. Questions ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Sainte-Croix is 10th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Violence weighs more than the rest
Sainte-Croix’s index splits into violent crime, 72.9 here and 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 30.8 against 62.8. By type ↓
Lighter than Quebec’s middle
Set among Quebec’s towns, whose median is 56.1, Sainte-Croix scores 42.6. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Sainte-Croix: A− for safety, and why
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: #90 of 503 in Quebec and #349 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 Sainte-Croix, by type
Fraud and mischief sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 18 | 0.5 | 61% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 4.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.03 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2 | 0.05 | — |
| Other violent violations | 11 | 0.3 | 55% |
| Breaking and entering | 57 | 1.5 | 35% |
| Possession of stolen property | 8.3 | 0.2 | 81% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 56.3 | 1.5 | 28% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 12.3 | 0.3 | 30% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 57 | 1.5 | 32% |
| Mischief | 81.3 | 2.2 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 7.3 | 0.2 | 92% |
| Administration of justice violations | 47.7 | 1.3 | 94% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 8.7 | 0.2 | 69% |
| Drug violations | 26 | 0.7 | 76% |
| Impaired driving | 48 | 1.3 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 30 | 0.8 | 27% |
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.
By its index, Sainte-Croix stands 10th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonfield Ontario | 2,597 | 24.3 | 39.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Saint-Bernard Quebec | 2,680 | 37.7 | 68.7 | A |
| 7 | Saint-Polycarpe Quebec | 2,549 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 8 | Saint-Mathieu Quebec | 2,642 | 41.6 | 59.8 | A− |
| 9 | Outlook Saskatchewan | 2,629 | 42 | 39.6 | A− |
| 10 | Sainte-Croix Quebec | 2,612 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| 11 | Waterville Quebec | 2,643 | 44.5 | 81.6 | A− |
| 12 | Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton Quebec | 2,650 | 45 | 82.8 | A− |
| 13 | East River, Part 1 Prince Edward Island | 2,657 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
| 14 | Saint-Éphrem-de-Beauce Quebec | 2,575 | 47.7 | 81.3 | B+ |
| 15 | Hébertville Quebec | 2,588 | 49.6 | 81.8 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Saint-Léonard-d'Aston Quebec | 2,662 | 56.5 | 87.6 | B |
| … | |||||
| 40 | La Ronge Saskatchewan | 2,668 | 715.9 | 1,169 | 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 Sainte-Croix in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Year by year in Sainte-Croix: down 11%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 45.4; the lightest was 2025, at 40.2. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Sainte-Croix | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 40.2 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 42 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 45.4 | 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 Sainte-Croix, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Around 380 violent incidents a year in the 37,800-resident police area around Sainte-Croix, 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.
Property crime adds about 380 a year and other violations 190 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Sainte-Croix
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Croix | 2,612 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| Donnacona | 7,785 | 44.5 | 72 | A− |
| Saint-Édouard-de-Lotbinière | 1,295 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| Cap-Santé | 3,885 | 44.5 | 72 | A− |
| Laurier-Station | 2,838 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly | 1,747 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| Neuville | 4,579 | 44.5 | 72 | A− |
The places around Sainte-Croix all score higher on the index. Same police, same number: 3 neighbours drop out of the comparison for that reason.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- What clearance means. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- An index, not a verdict. 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.”
- Policed as an MRC. Where the Sûreté du Québec polices, Statistics Canada publishes one figure per MRC; Sainte-Croix shares it with its neighbours.
Questions about safety in Sainte-Croix
Is Sainte-Croix safe?
Its police recorded 10.3 violent incidents and 10.3 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Sainte-Croix a Crime Severity Index of 42.6. For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the typical index is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Sainte-Croix?
Top of the list is assault (4.9 per 1,000 residents a year); fraud, at 2.7, and Criminal Code traffic offences, at 2.5, follow.
Is crime going up in Sainte-Croix?
No: the index fell 11%, from 45.4 in 2023 to 40.2 in 2025.
How much of Sainte-Croix’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 52% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (34% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 63% of violent and 41% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Sainte-Croix and everywhere else it polices.
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).