Photo: Miro Denck · CC BY-SA 4.0Sutton sees more crime per resident than three in five Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 96 for violence and 64.2 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8). The index held steady between 2023 (64.4) and 2025 (67.4). That puts it at C+ for safety, judged on crime the police covering Sutton reported from 2023 to 2025: #369 of 503 in Quebec. Still, the yearly rates were 12.4 violent incidents and 12.4 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 Brome-Missisquoi MRC.
What stands out about safety in Sutton
Visitors count, residents divide
About 37% of Sutton’s homes are cottages, second homes or otherwise empty much of the year: crime in the busy months is divided by year-round residents only, which lifts every rate here. How to read it ↓
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Sutton records 6.7 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Sutton comes 28th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Higher than most of Quebec
The typical Quebec town scores 56.1; Sutton, 72.8. 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.
What’s behind Sutton’s grade
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: #369 of 503 in Quebec and #1,539 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 Sutton, by type
Against the typical town its size, Sutton runs highest on Cannabis Act offences (5 per 1,000 against 0.03) and drug offences (6.7 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 | 1.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 58.3 | 1 | 41% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 16 | 0.3 | 88% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Robbery | 4.3 | 0.08 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 5 | 0.09 | 94% |
| Other violent violations | 13 | 0.2 | 44% |
| Breaking and entering | 104.7 | 1.8 | 28% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5 | 0.09 | 86% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 43.7 | 0.8 | 23% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 22.7 | 0.4 | 16% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 144.3 | 2.5 | 37% |
| Mischief | 118.7 | 2.1 | 26% |
| Weapons violations | 9.3 | 0.2 | 75% |
| Administration of justice violations | 126 | 2.2 | 97% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 30.7 | 0.5 | 50% |
| Drug violations | 385.7 | 6.7 | 18% |
| Impaired driving | 123.7 | 2.2 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 85 | 1.5 | 14% |
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.
Sutton comes 28th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Valley Ontario | 4,759 | 26.4 | 20.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Saint-Agapit Quebec | 4,817 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| 6 | Château-Richer Quebec | 4,732 | 42.7 | 62.9 | A− |
| 7 | Saint-Étienne-des-Grès Quebec | 4,675 | 44.3 | 60.8 | A− |
| 8 | Neuville Quebec | 4,579 | 44.5 | 72 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Jasper Alberta | 4,627 | 67.7 | 60.8 | B− |
| 26 | Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare Quebec | 4,615 | 68.5 | 107.8 | B− |
| 27 | Dundas New Brunswick | 4,733 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 28 | Sutton Quebec | 4,775 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| 29 | Rivière-Rouge Quebec | 4,882 | 73.1 | 131 | C+ |
| 30 | Hampton New Brunswick | 4,754 | 74.5 | 74.9 | C+ |
| 31 | Shippagan New Brunswick | 4,721 | 80.3 | 100.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Battleford Saskatchewan | 4,657 | 349.1 | 479.8 | 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 Sutton in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Sutton, year by year
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 86.7 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 64.4 in 2023. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Sutton | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 67.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 86.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 64.4 | 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 Sutton, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
About 710 violent incidents a year across the police area of 58,000 residents that includes Sutton, 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 710 a year and other violations 850 (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 Sutton
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutton | 4,775 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Frelighsburg | 1,168 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Dunham | 3,632 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Potton | 2,201 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| Cowansville | 17,269 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Lac-Brome | 6,307 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
4 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
- The whole MRC. Where the Sûreté du Québec polices, Statistics Canada publishes one figure per MRC; Sutton shares it with its neighbours.
- Reading the number. 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.
- Solved cases. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- How serious, not how safe. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Sutton
Is Sutton safe?
Against a typical 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Sutton’s Crime Severity Index stands at 72.8 for 2023–2025. Its police record 12.4 violent incidents and 12.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Sutton?
Drug offences is the most common, at 6.7 per 1,000 residents a year, then assault (6) and Cannabis Act offences (5).
Is crime going up in Sutton?
Hardly at all, from 64.4 in 2023 to 67.4 in 2025.
How much of Sutton’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 57% of violent crime and 27% of everything else, 38% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Sutton 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).