After three straight months of records and near-records, Montreal’s break-in numbers finally eased up a little in August — though not by much, and not everywhere.
The city recorded roughly 506 break-ins last month, down from July’s 569 but still ahead of both May’s 487 and June’s 465. That puts the running total at 3,760 as of August 31, according to data from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), tracked through the city’s Vue sur la sécurité publique mapping tool.
In case you’re wondering, that averages out to about 16.3 break-ins a day, which is slower clip than July’s 18.4 but still enough to keep August as the second-busiest month of 2026. The slowdown lines up with a common pattern: the hottest stretch of summer tends to produce the sharpest numbers, and things taper a little once it passes.
Where the incidents are concentrated
According to the updated map, downtown and the boroughs closest to the core account for the largest share of incidents by a wide margin, and that didn’t change in August. Villeray and the François-Perrault corridor remained busy, and Verdun continued to post the kind of numbers that have kept it near the top of the list since the spring.
An updated map of break-ins on the island. SPVM
Montreal North and the stretch heading east toward Anjou held steady too, sitting in roughly the same range they’ve occupied for most of the year. Rosemont and the area around Mont-Royal also saw a fair amount of activity, consistent with the middle-of-the-island pattern that’s defined 2026 so far.
The West Island largely stayed out of it, with one exception. Dollard-des-Ormeaux posted a total well above its West Island neighbours, standing out against the comparatively quiet numbers coming out of Pointe-Claire, Dorval and Beaconsfield.
How 2026 is trending
Eight months into the year, Montreal sits at 3,760 break-ins, putting the city on track to finish around 5,650. That’s a slight bump from the roughly 5,580 pace projected after July, continuing a trend of the annual estimate creeping higher as summer winds down.
Here’s how the annual totals have looked going back a decade:
- 2015: 9,947
- 2016: 9,483
- 2017: 8,816
- 2018: 7,052
- 2019: 6,715
- 2020: 5,733
- 2021: 4,809
- 2022: 5,554
- 2023: 6,048
- 2024: 5,844
- 2025: 6,139
Even with the August dip, 2026 remains on pace to land below every year since 2019 aside from 2021. Last year’s numbers didn’t peak until October, when the city logged 579 break-ins in a single month, so fall could still shift the picture before the year is out.
If you want to check activity on your own street or neighbourhood, the SPVM’s interactive map is available through the City of Montreal’s website, where you can filter by crime type and date range.
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