Crime rates | All of Canada tastes the increase

Despite the increase in crime that is shaking the metropolis, Montreal is not among the Canadian cities with the highest crime rates. According to the most recent data from Statistics Canada, Montreal is even below the national average. In Quebec, it is Drummondville that ranks at the top of the list, notably due to an increase in cases of sexual assault. An increase that is also observed throughout the province.

Montreal, less dangerous than we think?

The crime rate in the Montreal region ranks below the Canadian average, Statistics Canada figures reveal. Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver surpass the Quebec metropolis in the number of criminal offences relative to the number of inhabitants.

Homicides and gun crimes in Montreal decreased by about 20% between 2022 and 2023.

Property crimes, such as theft and fraud, account for more than half of criminal offences in the Montreal region. This reality has prompted Japan and France to issue recommendations for vigilance to their citizens regarding Montreal, particularly with regard to public transportation and burglaries.

The highest crime rate… in Drummondville

Drummondville has the highest crime rate of any metropolitan area in Quebec. It is also in this region that the crime severity index is the highest.

The number of robberies there increased from 14 to 23 between 2022 and 2023. Several cases of armed robberies in Drummondville businesses were publicized during the year, notably in a grocery store and a convenience store.

And it is in this city in the Centre-du-Québec that sexual assaults (without bodily injuries) have seen the greatest increase in the province.

An increase in sexual assaults in Quebec alone

Quebec is the only Canadian province where sexual assaults without physical injury increased (6.2%) between 2022 and 2023.

A Crown prosecutor from the Drummond district, Ms.^e Cassandre Hamel says she has seen more reports of sexual offences committed by spouses or ex-spouses in recent years, in a climate where reporting is more encouraged.

“Previously, we could see a little more sexual offences against children. And we may have seen a little less reporting by adult victims. Since the #metoo movement, there have been a lot of reporting by adult victims.”

Easier to denounce in Drummondville?

The Drummond judicial district contains one of ten courts specializing in sexual violence and domestic violence in Quebec. Rapid support for victims in the region can be a factor that encourages them to report these assaults, explains prosecutor Cassandre Hamel.

At the Centre-du-Québec Crime Victims Assistance Centre, 70% of the clientele were victims of sexual or domestic violence.

“For an organization that helps all victims, regardless of the type of crime, it’s quite striking to see that,” says executive director Marilie Cormier Gaudet.

Fraud: a Canadian scourge

Crime is on the rise across the country. Fraud is believed to be a significant factor in Canada’s crime severity index, which is increasing for the third year in a row.

In Canada and Quebec, the number of frauds increased by about 12%. Montreal saw an increase in this type of offence almost twice as high. But the number of frauds per 100,000 inhabitants remains well below the Canadian average.

The Montreal Police Department attributes this increase to higher numbers of bank card and check fraud, according to its 2023 report.

More hate crimes targeting identity

In 2023, hate crimes, whether racially, religiously, sexually or otherwise motivated, increased by about a third compared to the previous year. Crimes targeting sexual orientation increased by 69%.

The growth in religiously motivated crimes (67%) is particularly marked by an increase in crimes targeting Muslims (94%) and Jews (71%).