Photo: Fairchild Aviation Limited (d'après l'inscription dans le coin inférieur droit de la photo) · Public domainMore crimes per resident are recorded in Shawinigan than in 63% of Canadian towns
All 6 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Add to that, the Safety Grade comes out at C+, drawn from crime the police covering Shawinigan reported through 2023 to 2025: #382 of 503 in Quebec. In a usual year, 19.3 violent incidents and 19.8 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 10.8 and 25.1. Weighted by seriousness, its crime scores 76 on the index for 2023–2025, beside 60.3 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.
What stands out about safety in Shawinigan
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Shawinigan records 1.8 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Police clear more here
Police cleared 58% of Shawinigan’s crime, weighted by seriousness (80% of violent crime, 41% of the rest), against 38% across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. Questions ↓
Up since 2023
Shawinigan’s index went from 65 in 2023 to 79 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 64.3 to 59.2. Year by year ↓
Heavier than Quebec’s middle
The typical Quebec town scores 56.1; Shawinigan, 76. 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.
Inside Shawinigan’s C+ for safety
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: #382 of 503 in Quebec and #1,575 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
In Shawinigan, up 22% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year fell in the middle, 2024, at 84; 2023 was the lightest, at 65. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Shawinigan | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 79 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 84 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 65 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Shawinigan, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Shawinigan’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Shawinigan runs highest on drug offences (1.8 per 1,000 against 0.9), assault (9.6 per 1,000 against 4.9) and break and enter (3.8 per 1,000 against 2.2). Mischief and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 42 | 0.7 | 79% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 23.3 | 0.4 | 97% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 6.7 | 0.1 | 75% |
| Robbery | 21.3 | 0.4 | 69% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 10.3 | 0.2 | 90% |
| Other violent violations | 35.7 | 0.6 | 78% |
| Breaking and entering | 221.3 | 3.8 | 30% |
| Possession of stolen property | 19 | 0.3 | 70% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 117.3 | 2 | 18% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 27.3 | 0.5 | 23% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 344.7 | 5.9 | 45% |
| Mischief | 141 | 2.4 | 30% |
| Weapons violations | 20 | 0.3 | 84% |
| Administration of justice violations | 314.7 | 5.4 | 100% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 31.7 | 0.5 | 87% |
| Drug violations | 106 | 1.8 | 83% |
| Impaired driving | 117.3 | 2 | 94% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 123.7 | 2.1 | 7% |
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 50,000 people or more.
Shawinigan is 26th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeshore Ontario | 45,954 | 26.8 | 29 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Blainville Quebec | 61,739 | 34.9 | 41.4 | A |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Vaudreuil-Dorion Quebec | 46,413 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 9 | Rimouski Quebec | 51,756 | 44 | 75.8 | A− |
| 10 | Mascouche Quebec | 56,897 | 45.7 | 79.3 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Rouyn-Noranda Quebec | 43,270 | 66.7 | 112.8 | B− |
| 24 | Woodstock Ontario | 55,572 | 69.7 | 61.8 | C+ |
| 25 | Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Quebec | 47,002 | 75.4 | 130.4 | C+ |
| 26 | Shawinigan Quebec | 51,739 | 76 | 113.4 | C+ |
| 27 | Belleville Ontario | 62,914 | 76.8 | 94.1 | C+ |
| 28 | West Kelowna British Columbia | 40,274 | 78.4 | 79.1 | C+ |
| 29 | Dollard-Des Ormeaux Quebec | 50,246 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince Albert Saskatchewan | 40,728 | 295.8 | 470.9 | 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 Shawinigan in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 1,120 violent incidents a year reached Shawinigan’s police, 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 1,150 property crimes, plus 750 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Shawinigan
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shawinigan | 51,739 | 76 | 113.4 | C+ |
| Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel | 6,613 | 39.2 | 52 | A |
| Saint-Boniface | 5,405 | 44.3 | 60.8 | A− |
| Hérouxville | 1,570 | 56.3 | 77.5 | B |
| Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc | 1,598 | 44.3 | 60.8 | A− |
| Saint-Étienne-des-Grès | 4,675 | 44.3 | 60.8 | A− |
| Saint-Narcisse | 1,848 | 39.2 | 52 | A |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Shawinigan. Closest is Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel, 10.6 km away, at 39.2 to 76 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The index’s scale. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- What clearance means. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
Questions about safety in Shawinigan
Is Shawinigan safe?
Police-reported crime in Shawinigan scores 76 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 19.3 violent incidents and 19.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. For Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, the typical index is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Shawinigan?
Most often it is assault: 9.6 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 6.6 and theft under $5,000 at 5.9.
Is crime going up in Shawinigan?
Yes: the index rose 22%, from 65 in 2023 to 79 in 2025.
How much of Shawinigan’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 58% of crime (80% of violent crime, 41% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 38%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Shawinigan alone, so the figures are the town’s.
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).