Home security in Montreal: break-in data, SPVM alarm fees and installers

Break-ins in Montreal: the official figures

The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) publishes its “Actes criminels” data set on the city’s open data portal (last updated 28 September 2026). Break-ins are recorded under the category “Introduction”, which covers homes, businesses and other buildings together:

The long-term picture is a big fall: 2025 was about 32% below 2015. Of the 2025 break-ins, 3,197 were recorded on the day shift, 2,152 in the evening and 1,307 at night, so nearly half happen in daytime, when many homes are empty. Each record also carries an approximate location and the neighbourhood police station (PDQ), so you can look at your own area.

Montreal has a lot of plexes and walk-ups with rear balconies and outside stairs, so back doors, balcony doors and basement windows deserve as much attention as the front door. Our apartment security guide and security for renters cover the options.

False alarm fees in Montreal

The SPVM says its officers respond to nearly 30,000 alarm calls a year and 95% are false. The fees are set by the agglomeration by-law RCG 25-011 on unfounded alarms, adopted on 15 May 2025, which covers both the fire service and the police. It is the property owner (or the person responsible for the system) who pays.

• How the year is counted. The year starts on the date of your first false alarm, and false alarms drop off the file one year after they happen.
• Paying. You have 35 days to pay; interest of 9% a year applies after that.
• If there really was a break-in. Call 9-1-1 and get an event report number, then send it to the SPVM’s alarm section to have the charge reviewed.
• No permit. We did not find a household alarm permit in Montreal.

A panic button used to signal a burglar counts as a burglar alarm under the by-law. Ask your installer to walk every household member through arming and disarming, and read our false alarm checklist if the system goes off more than once.

Doorbell cameras and privacy

The federal private-sector privacy law, PIPEDA, does not apply to an individual who collects personal information for personal or domestic purposes only (section 4(2)(b)), so a camera that protects your own home is not regulated the way a shop camera is. That changes if the camera is used for a business, or run by a landlord, condominium corporation or property manager in shared areas. In Quebec, businesses and landlords are covered by Quebec’s own Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector, which the federal Privacy Commissioner lists as substantially similar to PIPEDA, overseen by the Commission d’accès à l’information. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s guidelines for overt video surveillance by organisations are a useful yardstick anyway: record only what you need, keep cameras off neighbours’ windows and yards, put up a notice, and delete footage you do not need. Practical steps: use privacy zones, switch off audio on cameras that face the street or a shared hallway, and keep a note of who can view the recordings. Our guides cover privacy zones, cameras in rented homes and police requests for doorbell footage in Canada.

Typical alarm and camera prices

We have not found an official Montreal price survey, so start with the national ranges in our Canada home security costs guide. HomeStars’ cost guide (updated August 2026) puts an installed security alarm system at $260 to $900, a fully integrated alarm and camera system at $1,300 to $2,650, and a 4-camera bundle at $780 to $2,080, with camera installation labour at $130 to $400 per camera. Add any police permit fee, allow for false-alarm charges, and compare at least two written quotes for the same equipment list and the same monitoring plan. For the full cost over several years, see our five-year cost guide.

How to choose an alarm installer in Montreal

• BSP licence. Under Quebec’s Private Security Act, the “electronic security systems” activity covers installing, repairing, maintaining and remotely monitoring burglar and intrusion alarms, video surveillance and access control systems. The company needs a BSP agency licence and its technicians need agent licences. Check both on the BSP’s public register of licence holders.
• Who pays the fees. The by-law bills the owner, so ask how the monitoring centre verifies an alarm before calling the SPVM.
• Language and paperwork. Make sure the contract, the user guide and the app are in a language everyone at home understands.
• Contract terms. Minimum term, automatic renewal, price rises, equipment ownership and early termination fees. Try our monitoring contract comparison tool.
• Signalling and outages. Ask what happens to the alarm in a power cut or internet outage. See alarm communication failures.

Alarm and camera installers in Montreal

These independent businesses appear in public business listings for the Montreal area and describe themselves as installing alarms, cameras or both. We left out telecom and national brands, dealer branches and lead-generation sites. We have not checked their work, prices, licences or insurance, and none of them has paid to appear. Check any installer’s licence yourself on the Bureau de la sécurité privée register.

To compare national companies instead, see our Canada home security providers comparison and the Canada monitored security companies directory, or request quotes.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Actes criminels, Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, updated 28 September 2026 (donnees.montreal.ca)
• Alarms (spvm.qc.ca)
• Règlement RCG 25-011 prévoyant certaines mesures relatives aux alarmes non fondées (spvm.qc.ca)
• Comment le BSP protège-t-il le public? and Register of Licence Holders (bspquebec.ca)
• Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, section 4(2) (laws-lois.justice.gc.ca)
• Provincial laws that may apply instead of PIPEDA (priv.gc.ca)
• Guidelines for Overt Video Surveillance in the Private Sector (priv.gc.ca)
• How Much Does a Home Security System Cost? (homestars.com), updated August 2026

Last checked: September 2026. Police fees and by-laws change, and open crime data is revised as cases are reclassified, so check the current position before you buy.

Home Security Innovations is a comparison and referral service, not an alarm or camera company. We do not install, monitor or respond to alarms, and a listing here is not a recommendation.