Photo: Cantons-de-l'Est · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime per resident in Waterville runs lower than in 79% of Canadian towns
By 2025 the index had dropped to 38.8, down from 43.7 in 2023. Counting crime the police covering Waterville reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades A− for safety: #107 of 503 in Quebec. Against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 81.6 and 30. For every 1,000 residents, 11.6 violent incidents and 9.9 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts for the Coaticook MRC.
What stands out about safety in Waterville
Violent crime leads the index
Violent crime scores 81.6 on Waterville’s index against 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 30 against 62.8. By type ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Waterville comes 10th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Above-typical clearance
Weighted by seriousness, 49% of crime in Waterville ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 62% of violent crime and 34% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
Lighter than Quebec’s middle
The typical Quebec town scores 56.1; Waterville, 44.5. 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 Waterville’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: #107 of 503 in Quebec and #379 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.
By its index, Waterville stands 10th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonfield Ontario | 2,597 | 24.3 | 39.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Saint-Bernard Quebec | 2,680 | 37.7 | 68.7 | A |
| 6 | Eastman Quebec | 2,706 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| 7 | Saint-Mathieu Quebec | 2,642 | 41.6 | 59.8 | A− |
| 8 | Outlook Saskatchewan | 2,629 | 42 | 39.6 | A− |
| 9 | Sainte-Croix Quebec | 2,612 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| 10 | Waterville Quebec | 2,643 | 44.5 | 81.6 | A− |
| 11 | Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton Quebec | 2,650 | 45 | 82.8 | A− |
| 12 | East River, Part 1 Prince Edward Island | 2,657 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
| 13 | Emerson-Franklin Manitoba | 2,686 | 47.5 | 54.8 | B+ |
| 14 | Saint-Martin Quebec | 2,687 | 47.7 | 81.3 | B+ |
| 15 | Saint-Éphrem-de-Beauce Quebec | 2,575 | 47.7 | 81.3 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | La Ronge Saskatchewan | 2,668 | 715.9 | 1,169 | 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 Waterville in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Waterville, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked in 2024 at 50.9, between two lighter years; the lowest, 2025, came in at 38.8. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Waterville | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 38.8 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 50.9 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 43.7 | 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 Waterville, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Around 230 violent incidents a year in the 19,700-resident police area around Waterville, 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 190 a year and other violations 130 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Which crimes make up Waterville’s figures
Fraud and assault sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 17.7 | 0.9 | 44% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1 | 0.05 | — |
| Robbery | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 7.7 | 0.4 | 74% |
| Breaking and entering | 25.3 | 1.3 | 23% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 16.3 | 0.8 | 18% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 32.7 | 1.7 | 50% |
| Mischief | 31.3 | 1.6 | 36% |
| Weapons violations | 5 | 0.3 | 100% |
| Administration of justice violations | 34.7 | 1.8 | 100% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 7.3 | 0.4 | 51% |
| Drug violations | 13 | 0.7 | 72% |
| Impaired driving | 30 | 1.5 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 22.7 | 1.2 | 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.
Crime in the places around Waterville
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterville | 2,643 | 44.5 | 81.6 | A− |
| Hatley | 2,512 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| Compton | 3,351 | 44.5 | 81.6 | A− |
| Sherbrooke | 184,135 | 54.6 | 85.1 | B |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley | 2,938 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| Ascot Corner | 3,725 | 50.5 | 89.1 | B+ |
| Ayer's Cliff | 1,284 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
Waterville sits above 3 of the 5 neighbours with figures of their own. The nearest of them, Hatley (3 km away), scores 39.9 against 44.5. A neighbour policed by the same service carries the same figure, so it isn’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- Shared across the MRC. The Sûreté du Québec reports by MRC, so the figures cover every municipality it polices there, Waterville among them.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
Questions about safety in Waterville
Is Waterville safe?
The short answer is an index of 44.5 for Waterville (2023–2025), built from 11.6 violent incidents and 9.9 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the typical index is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Waterville?
Top of the list is assault (4.9 per 1,000 residents a year); fraud, at 4.1, and Criminal Code traffic offences, at 2.9, follow.
Is crime going up in Waterville?
No: the index fell 11%, from 43.7 in 2023 to 38.8 in 2025.
How much of Waterville’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 49% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (34% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 62% of violent and 34% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Waterville 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).