Photo: Misspixels (Isabelle Gagné) · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime per resident in Val-David runs lower than in 70% of Canadian towns
Weighted by seriousness, its crime scores 48.8 on the index for 2023–2025, beside 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. Add to that, for every 1,000 residents, 11.9 violent incidents and 11.9 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures are 12.9 and 31.2. That puts it at B+ for safety, judged on crime the police covering Val-David reported from 2023 to 2025: #154 of 503 in Quebec. None of the 3 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident.
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 Laurentides MRC.
What stands out about safety in Val-David
Down since 2023
In 2023 the index in Val-David stood at 67.1, by 2025 at 34.2. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
A high clearance rate
Police cleared 61% of Val-David’s crime, weighted by seriousness (80% of violent crime, 46% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Val-David stands 9th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Val-David records 1.7 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 ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Val-David: B+ for safety, and why
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: #154 of 503 in Quebec and #502 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.
Year by year in Val-David: down 49%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 67.1, against a low of 34.2 in 2025. The typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Val-David | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 34.2 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 45 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 67.1 | 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 Val-David, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Val-David’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Val-David runs highest on drug offences (1.7 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 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 20 | 0.4 | 62% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 21.7 | 0.4 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.01 | — |
| Robbery | 5.3 | 0.1 | 89% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 4.3 | 0.08 | — |
| Other violent violations | 21 | 0.4 | 80% |
| Breaking and entering | 99 | 1.9 | 32% |
| Possession of stolen property | 8 | 0.2 | 71% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 59.7 | 1.1 | 17% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 16 | 0.3 | 29% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 139 | 2.6 | 38% |
| Mischief | 97.7 | 1.8 | 30% |
| Weapons violations | 16 | 0.3 | 92% |
| Administration of justice violations | 181 | 3.4 | 100% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 22.7 | 0.4 | 82% |
| Drug violations | 91.3 | 1.7 | 84% |
| Impaired driving | 127.7 | 2.4 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 92.7 | 1.7 | 24% |
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.
By its index, Val-David stands 9th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Ferris Ontario | 5,835 | 17.7 | 27.2 | A+ |
| 2 | McMasterville Quebec | 6,114 | 37.1 | 58.5 | A |
| 3 | Verchères Quebec | 5,819 | 37.1 | 58.5 | A |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Saint-Henri Quebec | 6,048 | 39.7 | 73 | A |
| 6 | Orford Quebec | 5,698 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| 7 | Waterloo Quebec | 5,714 | 45.3 | 73.7 | A− |
| 8 | Lac-Mégantic Quebec | 5,947 | 48.4 | 81.3 | B+ |
| 9 | Val-David Quebec | 5,920 | 48.8 | 71.8 | B+ |
| 10 | Saint-Pie Quebec | 6,085 | 49.7 | 70.8 | B+ |
| 11 | Spallumcheen British Columbia | 5,843 | 51.3 | 59.9 | B+ |
| 12 | Amqui Quebec | 6,059 | 53.7 | 103.9 | B |
| 13 | Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan Quebec | 5,675 | 54 | 93.4 | B |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Duncan British Columbia | 5,745 | 384.5 | 331.1 | 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 Val-David in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 630 violent incidents a year across the police area of 54,200 residents that includes Val-David, 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 640 property crimes, plus 570 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 Val-David
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Val-David | 5,920 | 48.8 | 71.8 | B+ |
| Val-Morin | 3,226 | 48.8 | 71.8 | B+ |
| Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts | 12,154 | 48.8 | 71.8 | B+ |
| Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides | 1,651 | 48.8 | 71.8 | B+ |
| Sainte-Adèle | 15,216 | 53.5 | 71.6 | B |
| Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson | 3,842 | 53.5 | 71.6 | B |
| Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard | 3,974 | 53.5 | 71.6 | B |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Val-David. 3 neighbours are on the same police service or detachment: they share the figure and aren’t compared here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Shared across the MRC. Where the Sûreté du Québec polices, Statistics Canada publishes one figure per MRC; Val-David shares it with its neighbours.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- What the index measures. 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.”
Questions about safety in Val-David
Is Val-David safe?
With 11.9 violent incidents and 11.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Val-David comes to 48.8 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have a median of 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Val-David?
Assault is the most common, at 5.8 per 1,000 residents a year, then Criminal Code traffic offences (4.7) and other Criminal Code offences (4.3).
Is crime going up in Val-David?
The reverse: 67.1 in 2023 came down to 34.2 by 2025, 49% lower.
How much of Val-David’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 61% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 80% of violent crime and 46% 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 Val-David 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).