Photo: Pierre Bona · CC BY-SA 3.0Shefford sees less crime per resident than three in four Canadian towns
On crime the police covering Shefford reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades A− for safety: #124 of 503 in Quebec. Add to that, its two neighbours with figures both record more crime per resident. Violence and property crime split as 9.4 violent incidents and 11.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 73.7 and 34.4.
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. Area behind the crime severity, crime rate and incident counts figures: the Haute-Yamaska MRC.
What stands out about safety in Shefford
Above-typical clearance
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 48% for Shefford (65% violent, 34% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Shefford is 17th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
The violent half stands out
Shefford scores 73.7 for violence and 34.4 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 85.7 and 62.8. By type ↓
Near the Quebec middle
Set among Quebec’s towns, whose median is 56.1, Shefford scores 45.3. 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.
The grade: A− for Shefford
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: #124 of 503 in Quebec and #415 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.
Crime in Shefford, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Shefford runs highest on drug offences (0.9 per 1,000 against 0.7). Mischief and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 22.3 | 0.9 | 51% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.07 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 42.7 | 1.7 | 26% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5 | 0.2 | 80% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 28.7 | 1.1 | 13% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 13.7 | 0.5 | 7% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 55.7 | 2.2 | 25% |
| Mischief | 42 | 1.6 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 1.7 | 0.07 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 61.7 | 2.4 | 97% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 6.7 | 0.3 | 64% |
| Drug violations | 23.7 | 0.9 | 72% |
| Impaired driving | 28.3 | 1.1 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 22.7 | 0.9 | 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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
In Shefford, down 14% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 49.4, and 2025 the lightest at 42.5. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Shefford | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 42.5 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 44.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 49.4 | 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 Shefford, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
About 240 violent incidents a year across the police area of 26,100 residents that includes Shefford, 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 290 property crimes and 160 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Shefford comes 17th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitewater Region Ontario | 7,899 | 29.1 | 36.6 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Saint-Joseph-du-Lac Quebec | 7,391 | 30.8 | 56.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon Quebec | 7,551 | 37.7 | 68.7 | A |
| 11 | Coteau-du-Lac Quebec | 7,839 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Louiseville Quebec | 7,570 | 44.3 | 60.8 | A− |
| 14 | Donnacona Quebec | 7,785 | 44.5 | 72 | A− |
| 15 | Minden Hills Ontario | 7,841 | 44.7 | 49.5 | A− |
| 16 | Baie-Saint-Paul Quebec | 7,760 | 45 | 79.1 | A− |
| 17 | Shefford Quebec | 7,704 | 45.3 | 73.7 | A− |
| 18 | Cornwall Prince Edward Island | 7,920 | 46.9 | 58 | B+ |
| 19 | La Broquerie Manitoba | 7,808 | 48.1 | 54.1 | B+ |
| 20 | Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley British Columbia | 7,830 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Bonnyville Alberta | 7,366 | 285.4 | 211.4 | 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 Shefford in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Shefford
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shefford | 7,704 | 45.3 | 73.7 | A− |
| Bromont | 12,413 | 38.1 | 45.9 | A |
| Waterloo | 5,714 | 45.3 | 73.7 | A− |
| Granby | 72,180 | 62.6 | 92.5 | B− |
| Roxton Pond | 4,884 | 45.3 | 73.7 | A− |
| Saint-Joachim-de-Shefford | 1,552 | 45.3 | 73.7 | A− |
| Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby | 3,545 | 45.3 | 73.7 | A− |
1 of the 2 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Shefford. The nearest of them, Bromont (7.3 km away), scores 38.1 against 45.3. Same police, same number: 4 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
- What the index measures. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Shared across the MRC. The Sûreté du Québec’s figures are for its MRC as a whole, not for Shefford alone.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Cleared, not convicted. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Shefford
Is Shefford safe?
The short answer is an index of 45.3 for Shefford (2023–2025), built from 9.4 violent incidents and 11.2 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Shefford?
Assault is the most common, at 4.6 per 1,000 residents a year, then fraud (3.6) and other Criminal Code offences (2.9).
Is crime going up in Shefford?
The reverse: 49.4 in 2023 came down to 42.5 by 2025, 14% lower.
How much of Shefford’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 48% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 65% of violent crime and 34% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Shefford 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).