Five Canadian cities take top spots in international safety rankings
The top five safest cities in North America are all located in Canada, split between Ontario and Quebec, according to Numbeo’s North America-specific city safety index.
Canada’s showing remains strong across the top 10 list as well, accounting for six of the 10 safest cities in North America.
Numbeo’s Current Safety Index by City is based on crowdsourced data reflecting residents’ perceptions of crime and safety and is updated continuously based on user submissions.
What are the top 10 safest cities in North America?
Ontario and Quebec account for nearly every Canadian city in the top 10, with just one Albertan city breaking the pattern:
| Rank | City |
|---|---|
| 1 | Quebec City, Quebec |
| 2 | Burlington, Ontario |
| 3 | Ottawa, Ontario |
| 4 | Montreal, Quebec |
| 5 | Guelph, Ontario |
| 6 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| 7 | Madison, Wisconsin |
| 8 | Irvine, California |
| 9 | Calgary, Alberta |
| 10 | Boise, Idaho |
All Canadian cities featured are categorized as having a “High” safety index, which falls under 60.01–80/100; consequently, they have a “Low” crime index.
Zooming out beyond the top 10, there are 33 Canadian cities among the total 79 North American cities included in these rankings.
What are the top 10 safest cities in Canada?
The top 10 safest cities in Canada can be found across five Canadian provinces, two of which are not found on the North America-wide list (British Columbia and Nova Scotia):
| National rank | City | North American rank | Safety index | Crime index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quebec City, Quebec | 1 | 77.7 | 22.3 |
| 2 | Burlington, Ontario | 2 | 71.4 | 28.6 |
| 3 | Ottawa, Ontario | 3 | 69.3 | 30.7 |
| 4 | Montreal, Quebec | 4 | 67.1 | 32.9 |
| 5 | Guelph, Ontario | 5 | 66.2 | 33.8 |
| 6 | Calgary, Alberta | 9 | 62.1 | 37.9 |
| 7 | Halifax, Nova Scotia | 12 | 60.4 | 39.6 |
| 8 | Victoria, British Columbia | 13 | 60.4 | 39.6 |
| 9 | Kingston, Ontario | 14 | 60.4 | 39.6 |
| 10 | Vancouver, British Columbia | 17 | 57.2 | 42.8 |
Vancouver is the only city on the list to break out of the “Low” crime index category, instead falling into the “Moderate” range (40.01-60).
Overall, the list skews heavily toward Ontario, which claims four cities, followed by Quebec and British Columbia with two each, and Alberta and Nova Scotia with one each.
Safety index methodology
Numbeo’s Current Safety Index by City is updated continuously and compiled using data from the previous five years.
Data for the index comes from user-submitted surveys measuring how safe people feel and how they perceive crime in their day-to-day lives. Scores are calculated on a 0-to-100 scale, making it possible to compare cities directly.
To ensure statistical significance, only cities meeting the minimum number of contributions are included in the index.
The following is considered when compiling the safety index:
- General perceptions of crime levels;
- Perceived safety during the day and at night;
- Concerns about specific crimes, including mugging, robbery, car theft, physical attacks, public harassment, and bias-motivated incidents;
- Severity of property crime, including burglary, theft, and vandalism; and
- Severity of violent crime, including assault, homicide, and sexual offences.
Numbeo’s safety index is essentially an inverse of their Crime Index, which is categorized by the following bands:
- Very Low: 20 and below
- Low: 20.01-40
- Moderate: 40.01-60
- High: 60.01-80
- Very High: above 80
Join our immigration newsletter
Be the first to know
Join our free newsletter. Get Canada’s top immigration stories delivered to your inbox.
