Toronto Seen as One of Canada’s Least Safe Cities: Poll

Toronto is seen by Canadians as one of the country’s most dangerous cities, with many viewing it as less safe than it actually is, a new poll finds.

A national public safety perception study conducted by Liaison Strategies found that 57 percent of Canadians consider Toronto to be “somewhat” or “very” unsafe. Just 39 percent said they consider the Ontario capital to be safe.

Only Winnipeg received a worse rating among the 15 cities included in the poll. Fifty-nine percent of respondents described Winnipeg as unsafe, compared with 31 percent who considered it safe.

Liaison Strategies ranked the cities based on their net safety scores, calculated by subtracting the percentage of respondents who considered a city unsafe from the percentage who considered it safe. Toronto recorded a net safety score of -18, second-worst among the cities surveyed, behind Winnipeg at -28.

The study also compared public perceptions with each city’s official Crime Severity Index (CSI) standing. Toronto had the largest gap between its public safety reputation and its official crime-severity ranking, which Liaison Strategies described as a “reputational penalty.”

“Toronto is perceived as almost as unsafe as Winnipeg, but the official crime-severity data does not put Toronto in the same category,” Liaison Strategies principal David Valentin said in a statement.

“Winnipeg is the clearest safety concern. It has the highest official Crime Severity Index among the cities tested, so in Winnipeg the perception problem and the official data are pointing in the same direction.”

The study compiling the survey data noted that more serious offences count more heavily than less serious offences on the index. For instance, a sexual assault would count more than a non-violent crime.

Vancouver was rated the third most-dangerous city behind Winnipeg and Toronto. Fifty-two percent of people surveyed said the B.C. city was either  “somewhat” or “very” unsafe.

Safety Scores

Five cities recorded negative net safety scores: Saskatoon at -5, Edmonton and Vancouver at -8, Toronto at -18, and Winnipeg at -28.

Winnipeg and Toronto remained at the bottom of the ranking, with Winnipeg’s score falling from -18 in 2017 to -28 and Toronto’s declining from -12 to -18.

The survey also evaluated cities’ safety reputations.

Ottawa had the highest safety-perception score, with 75 percent of respondents describing it as safe, followed by Quebec City at 74 percent and Charlottetown at 66 percent.

Quebec City recorded the largest improvement since 2017, with its net safety score rising from +7 to +57.

Edmonton and Vancouver experienced notable declines. Both had positive net safety scores in 2017 but now stand at -8.

Valentin said factors beyond crime statistics also influence how Canadians perceive the safety of different cities.

“That matters,” he said. “If people are mostly relying on news coverage, personal experience, and word of mouth, then city safety is not just a policing issue. It is also a reputation issue.”

He also noted a gender gap in the results, saying women reported greater safety concerns in several major cities, including Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto.

Liaison Strategies surveyed 1,500 Canadian adults between Aug. 30-31.