Photo: Anonymous Unknown author · Public domainSainte-Mélanie is about average among Canadian towns for recorded crime
Both towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Even so, between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure fell, 72 to 63.4. Recorded violent incidents ran at 14.7 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 19.2, against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Weighted by seriousness, its crime scores 68.5 on the index for 2023–2025, beside 68.5 for the typical Canadian 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 Joliette MRC: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Sainte-Mélanie
More crime solved
Weighted by seriousness, 49% of crime in Sainte-Mélanie ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 64% of violent crime and 37% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Sainte-Mélanie comes 20th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Above Quebec’s typical town
The typical Quebec town scores 56.1; Sainte-Mélanie, 68.5. Towns its size ↓
The violent half stands out
Violent crime scores 107.8 on Sainte-Mélanie’s index against 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 53.3 against 62.8. By type ↓
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 Sainte-Mélanie, 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: #345 of 503 in Quebec and #1,340 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.
Which crimes make up Sainte-Mélanie’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Sainte-Mélanie runs highest on sexual assault (1.5 per 1,000 against 0.9). Mischief and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 67 | 0.9 | 54% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 25.3 | 0.3 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 5 | 0.07 | 74% |
| Robbery | 15.3 | 0.2 | 54% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 14 | 0.2 | 100% |
| Other violent violations | 24 | 0.3 | 55% |
| Breaking and entering | 129.7 | 1.7 | 28% |
| Possession of stolen property | 19 | 0.3 | 86% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 210.7 | 2.8 | 13% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 42.7 | 0.6 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 409.3 | 5.5 | 39% |
| Mischief | 188 | 2.5 | 22% |
| Weapons violations | 20.3 | 0.3 | 94% |
| Administration of justice violations | 302 | 4 | 100% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 27.7 | 0.4 | 88% |
| Drug violations | 106 | 1.4 | 98% |
| Impaired driving | 134.7 | 1.8 | 95% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 209.7 | 2.8 | 10% |
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.
Sainte-Mélanie, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 72, and its lowest 2025, at 63.4. 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-Mélanie | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 63.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 70 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 72 | 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-Mélanie, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
The police area Sainte-Mélanie is part of, 75,500 residents, recorded about 1,090 violent incidents a year (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.
And about 1,430 property crimes, plus 860 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Sainte-Mélanie is 20th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier Quebec | 3,400 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Saint-Jean-Baptiste Quebec | 3,332 | 37.1 | 58.5 | A |
| 7 | Saint-Pascal Quebec | 3,516 | 42.5 | 72 | A− |
| 8 | Saint-Jean-Port-Joli Quebec | 3,330 | 43.7 | 73 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Channel-Port aux Basques Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,379 | 66.8 | 62.8 | B− |
| 18 | Port Hawkesbury Nova Scotia | 3,442 | 68.4 | 80 | B− |
| 19 | Saint-Thomas Quebec | 3,477 | 68.5 | 107.8 | B− |
| 20 | Sainte-Mélanie Quebec | 3,417 | 68.5 | 107.8 | B− |
| 21 | Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Quebec | 3,328 | 68.5 | 107.8 | B− |
| 22 | Grande-Rivière Quebec | 3,318 | 69.4 | 134.9 | C+ |
| 23 | Placentia Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,374 | 79.6 | 65.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Inuvik Northwest Territories | 3,337 | 718.3 | 807.9 | 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 Sainte-Mélanie in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Sainte-Mélanie
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Mélanie | 3,417 | 68.5 | 107.8 | B− |
| Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes | 3,328 | 68.5 | 107.8 | B− |
| Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare | 4,615 | 68.5 | 107.8 | B− |
| Saint-Félix-de-Valois | 7,670 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| Sainte-Marcelline-de-Kildare | 1,941 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| Saint-Charles-Borromée | 16,904 | 68.5 | 107.8 | B− |
| Notre-Dame-des-Prairies | 9,622 | 68.5 | 107.8 | B− |
Sainte-Mélanie has the highest index of the places around it. Just 6.8 km away, Saint-Félix-de-Valois comes to 57.5, against 68.5. 4 nearby places have no figure apart from this one: they share a police service.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The clearance rate. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
- Severity, weighed. 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.”
- One figure for the MRC. Where the Sûreté du Québec polices, Statistics Canada publishes one figure per MRC; Sainte-Mélanie shares it with its neighbours.
- What 100 means. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Sainte-Mélanie
Is Sainte-Mélanie safe?
Against a typical 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Sainte-Mélanie’s Crime Severity Index stands at 68.5 for 2023–2025. Its police record 14.7 violent incidents and 19.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Sainte-Mélanie?
The three biggest groups are assault at 7.3, theft under $5,000 at 5.5 and fraud at 5.2, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Sainte-Mélanie?
Down 12%: 72 in 2023, 63.4 in 2025.
How much of Sainte-Mélanie’s crime do police solve?
About 49% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 64% of violent and 37% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Sainte-Mélanie together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).