Safe Cities profile series: Key indicators by census metropolitan area
Gatineau, Quebec

Satisfaction with safety

Gatineau 86%, Quebec 88%, Canada 88%

proportion of people who reported being satisfied with their personal safety from crime in 2014

* significantly different from Gatineau (p < 0.05)

Police-reported violent crime rate in 2018

Gatineau 1,162, Quebec 1,078, Canada 1,143

rate per 100,000 population

Ten-year change in police-reported crime rate (2008 to 2018)

Gatineau -34%, Quebec -35%, Canada, -17%

Population and demographics

Gatineau was home to 339,875 people in 2018, and it had a population density of 109 residents per square kilometre. Three in ten (29%) residents were aged 24 and younger, on par with the distribution in Quebec (27%) and across Canada (28%).

About 4.0% of Gatineau residents were part of the Indigenous population (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) in 2016, higher than Quebec (2.3%) but closer to Canada (4.9%). Immigrants represented one in ten (11%) residents, slightly lower than Quebec (14%) and twice as low as Canada (22%). One in five (21%) immigrants in Gatineau were recent immigrants (since 2011), similar to Quebec (20%) but higher than Canada (16%). The proportion of people who identified as a visible minority in Gatineau (12%) was similar to Quebec (13%) but lower than the proportion in Canada overall (22%).

Education, employment and income

In 2016, two in three (67%) Gatineau residents aged 25 to 64 had completed some form of postsecondary education, one in five (20%) had completed high school (or equivalent) as their highest level of education, and one in eight (13%) had completed neither.

In 2018, the unemployment rate in Gatineau (4.5%) was lower than in Quebec (5.5%) and Canada’s provinces (5.8%). Households in Gatineau earned a median after-tax annual income of $55,070 in 2017, notably higher than in Quebec ($46,980) and somewhat higher than Canada ($52,090). The percentage of families considered low-income was slightly lower in Gatineau (14%) than in Quebec (16%) and Canada (17%).

Housing and families

On average, there were 2.3 persons per household in Gatineau in 2016, on par with Quebec (2.3) and Canada (2.4). Two-thirds (66%) of households in Gatineau owned their homes, higher than Quebec (61%) but closer to Canada (68%). When a household spends 30% or more of its income on shelter costs, it is considered to live in unaffordable housing: this was the case for one in five (20%) Gatineau households, close to Quebec (21%) but lower than Canada (24%). A small proportion (6.2%) of occupied private dwellings in Gatineau were in need of major repairs, similar to Quebec (6.4%) and Canada (6.5%). About one-fifth (19%) of Gatineau families were lone-parent families, slightly higher than in Quebec (17%) and Canada (16%). In 2018, there were an estimated 1,091 individuals staying in emergency accommodations across the province of Quebec.

Community safety and sense of belonging

• In 2014, one in three (32%) Gatineau residents aged 15 and older were very satisfied with their personal safety from crime, which was not significantly different from Quebec residents (36%) and Canadians living in the provinces overall (38%).
• Nearly half (46%) of Gatineau residents felt very safe when walking alone after dark, which was not significantly different from the proportion in Quebec (53%) and Canada’s provinces (52%).
  • Women who lived in Gatineau were significantly less likely than men to feel very safe when walking alone after dark (26%^E versus 60%), similar to Quebec and Canada’s provinces.
• Almost one in four (23%) Gatineau residents thought social disorder was a big or moderate problem in their neighbourhood, similar to in Quebec (24%) and Canada’s provinces (22%).
• One in five (19%) Gatineau residents said they had a very strong sense of belonging to their community, significantly lower than in Quebec (28%) and Canada’s provinces (25%).
• Over a six-year period (2009 to 2014), 10%^E of Gatineau residents experienced discrimination, on par with Quebec (10%) and similar to Canada’s provinces (13%).
• About 17% of Gatineau residents said they knew most people in their neighbourhood in 2014, which was not significantly different from Quebec (22%) and Canada’s provinces (21%).
• The large majority (70%) of Gatineau residents thought crime levels in their neighbourhood were lower than the rest of Canada, similar to Quebec (70%) and Canada’s provinces (74%).
• The vast majority (91%) of Gatineau residents reported having confidence in police in 2014, which was similar to the proportion in Quebec (92%) and Canada’s provinces (91%).

Self-reported experiences of victimization

• In 2018, 3.6% of Gatineau residents aged 15 and older were victims of a self-reported physical or sexual assault, the same as Quebec (3.6%) and not significantly different from Canada’s provinces (4.4%).
• Nearly one in four (23%) Gatineau residents experienced unwanted sexual behaviour in public, which was significantly higher than Quebec (17%) but the same as Canada’s provinces (23%).
  • In Gatineau, women were significantly more likely to experience unwanted sexual behaviour in public than men (29% versus 15%).
  • Of those who experienced unwanted sexual behaviour in public in 2018, nearly half (45%) of Gatineau residents changed their behaviour while in public as a result, as did nearly half of those in Quebec (44%) and half of those in Canada’s provinces (50%).

Property crime

• Police-reported: There were 1,797 property crimes per 100,000 population reported by police in Gatineau in 2018, similar to Quebec (1,774) but 46% lower than Canada (3,339).
• Self-reported: There were 168^E property crimes per 1,000 Gatineau households reported in 2014 (includes breaking and entering, theft of motor vehicle or parts, theft of household property and vandalism), which was not significantly different from Quebec (135) and Canada’s provinces (143).

Hate crime

• The police-reported hate crime rate—which depends on police services' level of expertise in identifying crimes motivated by hate—was the same in Gatineau (5.4 incidents per 100,000 population) as in Quebec (5.4) and slightly higher than Canada (4.9) in 2018.
• Between 2014 and 2018, the rate of police-reported hate crime in Gatineau increased from 0.9 to 5.4 per 100,000 population (+486%), a much larger increase than in Quebec (+71%) and Canada (+33%).

Intimate partner violence

• There were 343 victims of intimate partner violence per 100,000 population aged 15 and older reported by police in Gatineau in 2018, 6% higher than Quebec (324) and 6% higher than Canada (323).
• The large majority (78%) of victims of police-reported intimate partner violence in Gatineau were female, similar to Quebec (77%) and Canada (79%).
• Same-sex partners accounted for 3.9% of police-reported intimate partner violence in Gatineau between 2009 and 2018, slightly lower than in Quebec (4.2%) but slightly higher than in Canada (3.4%).

Homicide

• In 2018, Gatineau had 4 homicides—a rate of 1.20 per 100,000 population—slightly higher than Quebec (0.99) but slightly lower than Canada (1.76).
• Of the 4 homicide victims in Gatineau, 1 was female (25%). This was a slightly higher proportion than in Quebec (22%) but the same as in Canada (25%).
• The number of homicides in Gatineau remained the same with 4 victims in 2008 to 4 victims in 2018.

Charts and tables

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^E use with caution

Note: This fact sheet contains data that come from multiple sources across multiple reference years. Some figures may be presented differently than in other Statistics Canada publications due to rounding. For detailed information on data definitions and sources, please refer to the Safe Cities profile series: Definitions and data sources document.