Photo: Roncanada · CC BY 4.0Thurso is about average among Canadian towns for recorded crime
Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 61.7 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town its size scores 68.5. By 2025 the index had climbed to 63.1, up from 55.7 in 2023. The overall Safety Grade is B− (#282 of 503 in Quebec), which means close to the middle of Canadian towns, judged on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Its police logs show 17.5 violent incidents and 13.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the typical town its size the numbers are 12.9 and 31.2.
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-wide: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts, counted over the Papineau MRC.
What stands out about safety in Thurso
A high clearance rate
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 60% for Thurso (79% violent, 41% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Violence weighs more than the rest
Thurso scores 107.3 for violence and 44 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 85.7 and 62.8. By type ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Thurso is 17th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
About the Quebec norm
Set among Quebec’s towns, whose median is 56.1, Thurso scores 61.7. 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 Thurso’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: #282 of 503 in Quebec and #924 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 Thurso, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Thurso runs highest on assault (8.6 per 1,000 against 6.7). Mischief and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 14.7 | 0.5 | 88% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 8.7 | 0.3 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 5 | 0.2 | 100% |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 4.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 17.7 | 0.7 | 58% |
| Breaking and entering | 66.7 | 2.5 | 39% |
| Possession of stolen property | 10.7 | 0.4 | 75% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 56.7 | 2.1 | 28% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 18 | 0.7 | 22% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 56 | 2.1 | 34% |
| Mischief | 65.7 | 2.4 | 29% |
| Weapons violations | 9.7 | 0.4 | 69% |
| Administration of justice violations | 62 | 2.3 | 87% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 11 | 0.4 | 75% |
| Drug violations | 31 | 1.1 | 65% |
| Impaired driving | 49 | 1.8 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 23.7 | 0.9 | 28% |
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.
Thurso, year by year
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 66.2 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 55.7 in 2023. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Thurso | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 63.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 66.2 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 55.7 | 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 Thurso, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Thurso comes 17th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | 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-Isidore Quebec | 3,550 | 37.7 | 68.7 | A |
| 8 | Saint-Pascal Quebec | 3,516 | 42.5 | 72 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby Quebec | 3,545 | 45.3 | 73.7 | A− |
| 15 | Saint-Côme--Linière Quebec | 3,435 | 47.7 | 81.3 | B+ |
| 16 | Electoral Area B, North Okanagan British Columbia | 3,415 | 61.3 | 74.1 | B− |
| 17 | Thurso Quebec | 3,439 | 61.7 | 107.3 | B− |
| 18 | Richmond County, Subdivision C Nova Scotia | 3,444 | 65.2 | 90.1 | B− |
| 19 | Lewisporte Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,405 | 66.2 | 61.2 | B− |
| 20 | Channel-Port aux Basques Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,379 | 66.8 | 62.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 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 Thurso in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
27,100 residents, about 470 violent incidents a year: the police area Thurso belongs to, 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 370 property crimes, plus 220 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 Thurso
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thurso | 3,439 | 61.7 | 107.3 | B− |
| Lochaber-Partie-Ouest | 1,016 | 61.7 | 107.3 | B− |
| Rockland | 30,375 | 38.2 | 56.7 | A |
| Plaisance | 1,191 | 61.7 | 107.3 | B− |
| L'Ange-Gardien | 7,068 | 29.4 | 51.6 | A+ |
| Vallée-de-la-Lièvre | 15,388 | 67.5 | 100.1 | B− |
| Cumberland | 6,139 | 54.7 | 66 | A+ |
3 of the 4 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Thurso. Rockland, 7.7 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 38.2 to 61.7. Same police, same number: 2 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
- How serious, not how safe. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The whole MRC. Where the Sûreté du Québec polices, Statistics Canada publishes one figure per MRC; Thurso shares it with its neighbours.
- Reading the number. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- Solved cases. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
Questions about safety in Thurso
Is Thurso safe?
Thurso’s Crime Severity Index is 61.7 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 17.5 violent incidents and 13.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set that beside 68.5, the median for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is the most common crime in Thurso?
The three biggest groups are assault at 8.6, Criminal Code traffic offences at 3.7 and fraud at 3.4, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Thurso?
Yes: the index rose 13%, from 55.7 in 2023 to 63.1 in 2025.
How much of Thurso’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 60% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (34% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 79% of violent and 41% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Thurso and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).