Eight Ontario Cities Among Canada’s Safest

Rentola, an online platform for tenants and landlords, recently conducted a study on Canada’s safest cities. Their findings revealed that eight out of the top ten safest cities in Canada are located in Ontario. Furthermore, among the top 20 safest cities in Canada, half of them are in Ontario.

The report assessed Canadian cities based on law enforcement effectiveness and the overall crime rate, resulting in a safety score for each city. This evaluation relied on data from Statistics Canada and considered various factors, including:

1. Number of citizens per police officer.
2. Violent crime index (including serious crimes like homicides and assaults).
3. Non-violent crime index (covering crimes like embezzlement and fraud).
4. Crime-solving rate (percentage of solved cases out of reported crimes).
5. Crime severity index (assessing the seriousness and frequency of crimes).

The safety score was calculated on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the least safe and 10 being the safest possible score.

Here are the top ten safest cities in Canada, along with their corresponding safety scores:

1. Barrie, Ontario: 7.13
2. Brantford, Ontario: 7.00
3. Guelph, Ontario: 6.84
4. Toronto, Ontario: 6.63
5. Saint John, New Brunswick: 6.63
6. Belleville, Ontario: 6.43
7. Windsor, Ontario: 6.42
8. St. Catharines-Niagara, Ontario: 6.40
9. Lethbridge, Alberta: 6.37
10. Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ontario: 6.29

Notably, Toronto secured the 4th spot on the list, despite being Canada’s most populous city. This suggests that even with a substantial population, Toronto maintains a high level of safety compared to other major cities like Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary, which scored lower on the list.

From a provincial perspective, out of the 34 cities included in the report, 14 were in Ontario, six in Quebec, four in British Columbia, and three in Alberta. Surprisingly, the report revealed that Ontario and Quebec had significantly lower crime severity compared to other Canadian provinces, despite being the most populous provinces in the country. Conversely, the Northwest Territories had the highest crime severity in Canada.

It’s important to note that while this report offers valuable insights into crime and law enforcement in various cities, it’s not an exhaustive study, and some cities may have been excluded due to data limitations. Newcomers can use this information, along with other factors like GDP, nightlife, weather, and more, to make informed decisions about where to settle in Canada.