Winnipeg, Kelowna ranked least safe among 34 cities in Canada: new report

A new report listing the safest versus most dangerous cities in Canada gave the lowest overall safety scores to Winnipeg, Manitoba, followed by Kelowna, BC; Thunder Bay, Ontario; and Halifax Nova Scotia. The highest overall safety scores went to four Ontario cities: Barrie, Brantford, Guelph and Toronto.

Rentola, a rental company, arranged 34 Canadian cities use data from Statistics Canada.

The study considered five factors in assessing a community’s overall safety and well-being: the Crime Severity Index, the Violent Crime Severity Index, the Nonviolent Crime Severity Indexes, the number of citizens per police officer, and crime solving. rate.

Only cities with data on all indicators were included in the analysis, with each city given a score on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 representing the best score or the greatest safety.

Barrie took first place, with an overall score of 7.13 out of 10, followed by Brantford (7.00), Guelph (6.84) and Toronto (6.63).

Winnipeg, the least safe city on the list, came in with a score of 4.59. Only slightly better were Kelowna (4.65), Thunder Bay (4.98) and Halifax (5.04).

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, which ranked 29th, received an average score of 5.30, while Trois-Rivières, Quebec, which ranked 28th, scored 5.48.

“Safety and security are critical elements for thriving communities in every country. They promote confidence, well-being and a sense of belonging among residents,” Rentola said in an introduction to the results.

“By prioritizing safety measures such as well-equipped police forces, efficient emergency response systems and community engagement initiatives, neighborhoods become more resilient and enjoyable places to live.”

Rentola said the report was designed to help those considering a move find “the safest city to live in”.

Crime seriousness

Barrie and Toronto were not only among the top four safest cities overall, but were also among the top three safest cities when it came to serious crime. In the Crime Severity Index, looking at the frequency of offenses and their corresponding severity levels, Québec City ranked first at 10, followed by Toronto at 9.70 and Barrie at 9.65.

Regina, Saskatchewan, was the safest in terms of the number of citizens per police officer, with a score of 10. It was followed by Lethrbidge, Alberta, with a score of 8.94 in that indicator category.

Lethbridge came in as Canada’s ninth safest city overall (overall score of 6.37), while Québec City ranked 11th (slightly lower overall score of 6.29).

“Oddly enough, despite Lethbridge having the highest crime rate of any Canadian metropolitan area [score of 1.00 on the crime severity index]the majority of crimes committed are classified as non-violent [score of 10.00 on the non-violent crime severity index]Rentola indicated.

“In addition, Lethbridge has enough police officers to ensure a high detection rate. As a result, Lethbridge can be considered a lot safer than Québec City in some respects.”

The way Rentola ranked cities also gave Quebec City a low crime rate (10.00 on the Crime Severity Index) despite a low score (4.47) for the number of citizens per police officer.

“Québec City has the lowest crime rate. It is noteworthy, however, that a significant proportion of the crimes committed in the area are of a violent nature and that the ratio of the police force to the population of the area remains relatively small. Therefore, compared to Lethbridge, which has the highest crime index, Québec City appears less safe,” said Rentola.

Vancouver, with a score of 5.81 on the overall index, ranked 18th out of 34 on the list of safest cities and scored 7.95 on the violent crime severity index.

Based on the data, Rentola said, “Ontario ranks as the safest province for people looking for a new place to move or for people planning a trip.”