Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainWaswanipi records more crime per resident than 80% of Canadian towns
On Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index, the 2023–2025 average is 103.6, where the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ sits at 67.2. Counting crime the police covering Waswanipi reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety. Police counts work out at 34.8 violent incidents and 20.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ they are 12.0 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. Data for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts covers the Eeyou Eenou Cree Region service area.
What stands out about safety in Waswanipi
Assault: high for a town its size
Waswanipi records 20.6 incidents of assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 6.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
More severe than in 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Waswanipi moved from 35 to 145.4, while the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 to 62.9. Year by year ↓
Above Quebec’s typical town
Waswanipi’s index of 103.6 compares with 56.1 for the typical town in Quebec. Towns its size ↓
Violent crime leads the index
Waswanipi scores 197.1 for violence and 67.1 for other crime; the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ scores 86.4 and 62.8. By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Waswanipi: C− 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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
From 2023 to 2025, Waswanipi’s index climbed 316%
Crime Severity Index
Of the years charted, 2025 weighed most (145.4) and 2023 least (35). The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, runs from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Waswanipi | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 145.4 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 130.4 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 35 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Waswanipi, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in Waswanipi, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Waswanipi runs highest on assault (20.6 per 1,000 against 6.7), mischief (11.7 per 1,000 against 4.2) and break and enter (4.5 per 1,000 against 2.5).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 8 | 0.4 | 34% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 37 | 1.9 | 43% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.05 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5.7 | 0.3 | 0% |
| Breaking and entering | 86.3 | 4.5 | 23% |
| Possession of stolen property | 0 | 0 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 31.7 | 1.6 | 15% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 9 | 0.5 | 14% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 20 | 1 | 7% |
| Mischief | 224.7 | 11.7 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 9.7 | 0.5 | 75% |
| Administration of justice violations | 114 | 5.9 | 34% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 44.3 | 2.3 | 35% |
| Drug violations | 27.3 | 1.4 | 40% |
| Impaired driving | 80 | 4.2 | 51% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 12 | 0.6 | 11% |
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 people or more.
19,400 residents, about 670 violent incidents a year: the police area Waswanipi 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 400 property crimes, plus 320 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 Waswanipi
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waswanipi | 1,866 | 103.6 | 197.1 | C− |
| Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (26 km) | 1,225 | 166.4 | 274.8 | D |
| Chapais (81 km) | 1,392 | 128.7 | 264.7 | D |
| Lebel-sur-Quévillon (101 km) | 2,229 | 90.6 | 183.4 | C |
| Chibougamau (118 km) | 7,273 | 128.7 | 264.7 | D |
| Matagami (120 km) | 1,364 | 166.4 | 274.8 | D |
1 of the 5 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Waswanipi. Just 101 km away, Lebel-sur-Quévillon comes to 90.6, against 103.6.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 26–120 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Waswanipi.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. 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.”
- One service, several municipalities. Waswanipi is policed by a service that covers other municipalities too, and Statistics Canada reports the service as a whole.
- What 100 means. 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.
- The clearance rate. 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 Waswanipi
Is Waswanipi safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Waswanipi scores 103.6 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 34.8 violent and 20.6 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. For Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more, the typical index is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Waswanipi?
Most often it is assault: 20.6 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come mischief at 11.7 and other Criminal Code offences at 10.
Is crime going up in Waswanipi?
Yes: the index rose 316%, from 35 in 2023 to 145.4 in 2025.
How much of Waswanipi’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 41% of violent crime and 26% of everything else, 36% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Waswanipi 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).