Living in LaSalle: what the numbers show

Crime and safety

Police recorded 654 located criminal acts in LaSalle over the most recent full year of data, against 707 in the year before, a change of -7.5%. The overall picture is stable.

Measured against the housing stock, the rate is 15.6, compared with 24.1 across the city, which places LaSalle at rank 3 among Montréal's boroughs when they are ordered from the lowest rate upward. The most frequent category is break-ins, accounting for 24.5% of the total.

Break-ins specifically number 160, giving a rate of 3.8 against 5.8 citywide: below the city average, though the direction is rising. One caveat applies everywhere on the island: 15.2% of published acts come without a location and so belong to no borough in these counts.

Housing stock

The assessment roll lists 41,908 dwellings in LaSalle. The median construction year is 1969, which puts most of the borough squarely in the post-war expansion rather than in the pre-war duplex belt closer to downtown.

Older buildings are a minority here: 16.1% of dwellings predate that era, so buyers see fewer of the renovation surprises common in early-century triplexes, and more brick walk-ups and detached homes from later decades. Condominium units make up 16.1% of the stock, meaning rental and owner-occupied houses still dominate what comes on the market.

Parks and outdoor life

The City's inventory, which covers parks and large parks only and leaves out private and institutional green space, lists 82 parks in LaSalle, together occupying 5.3% of the borough's land against 10.1% citywide. Park area measured against the housing stock comes to 32,023.0, compared with 46,596.0 for all boroughs: below the city average. The riverfront Parc des Rapides is the biggest of them.

For families, the equipment count matters more than the acreage. There are 60 children's playgrounds, 47 outdoor sports facilities and 10 outdoor recreation sites, part of a wider inventory of 182 outdoor recreational, sports and cultural facilities.

What rents look like in the region

CMHC publishes average rents for the Montréal census metropolitan area, not for individual boroughs, so treat the following as regional context rather than a price list for LaSalle. In the 2025 survey, bachelor units averaged $1,005 and smaller units $1,131.

Family-sized units averaged $1,346, and the largest units $1,625. Actual asking rents in any given street vary with the age and condition of the building, and the stock here skews toward post-war low-rises rather than new construction.

Practical notes for newcomers

Break-ins are the leading category at 24.5% of recorded acts and the trend is rising, even though the rate of 3.8 stays below the citywide 5.8. Solid door hardware, lighting and a look at how a ground-floor unit or garage is secured are worth checking before you sign.

With a median construction year of 1969, insurers and inspectors will ask about roofing, electrical panels and plumbing updates; have those answers ready, since they also affect what a home insurance quote comes back at. If you are buying, a mortgage pre-approval before visiting helps, because the 16.1% condominium share means much of what sells here is houses and plexes, where financing conditions differ from a condo purchase.