Crime Rate Data by CMA, 2011

[Blitz]

Statscan released their annual crime data. Despite perceptions of rising gun violence, crime across the country is at its lowest rate since 1972. Data is compared using the Crime Severity Index, the national rate is 77.6


CMAs ranked by Crime Severity Index:

• Regina 124.5
• Saskatoon 118.7
• Thunder Bay 107.3
• Winnipeg 107.2
• Kelowna 97.4
• Vancouver 94.5
• St. John's 93.3
• Brantford 92.2
• Edmonton 89.4
• Abbotsford 87.9
• Halifax 87.4
• Montreal 80.9
• Saint John 79.2
• London 79.0
• Sudbury 78.9
• Victoria 71.3
• Saguenay 71.1
• Moncton 68.6
• Trois-Rivieres 67.9
• Calgary 65.8
• Hamilton 65.2
• Gatineau 63.6
• Kitchener 62.9
• Windsor 62.5
• Peterborough 62.2
• Sherbrooke 60.7
• St. Catharines 60.7
• Kingston 59.5
• Barrie 58.3
• Ottawa 57.9
• Toronto 54.9
• Quebec 52.2
• Guelph 47.0

Highest Crime Severity Index by Community:

• 1. North Battleford, Sask. 361.0
  2. Thompson, Man. 273.2
  3. Yellowknife, NWT. 218.1
  4. Portage La Prairie, Man. 217.1
  5. Prince Albert, Sask. 217.1
  6. Williams Lake, BC. 198.2
  7. Yorkton, Sask. 192.4
  8. Prince Rupert, BC. 181.9
  9. Langley, BC. 170.5
  10. Terrace, BC. 165.9

Lowest Crime Severity Index by Community:

• 239. Amherstburg, Ont. 24.3
  238. LaSalle, Ont. 25.5
  237. Meaford, Ont. 27.3
  236. Tecumseh, Ont. 27.6
  235. Lakeshore, Ont. 28.3
  234. Wellington County, Ont. 28.5
  233. Rothesay, NB. 29.5
  232. Petawawa, Ont. 30.3
  231. Lanark County, Ont. 31.3
  230. Kingsville, Ont. 32.1

[Reesonov]

Hooray, Regina!

[FrAnKs]

It's those kind of list where you don't hope to be #1.

I feel pretty safe in Quebec city.

[Dmajackson]

Wow Sydney (Cape Breton) is so safe its not even listed ...

While I am glad to be outside of the top 10 I have to say St. John's seems oddly placed. I'd feel safer there at 3am then I would in Calgary or Toronto in the daytime ...

[kool maudit]

i don't know why canadians always imagine toronto to be unsafe.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

i don't know why canadians always imagine toronto to be unsafe.

I think it makes sense. The rate is low but the absolute number of crimes is high, which means that Toronto has more exotic gangland-style shootings for the (heavily concentrated) local and national media to work with. Most Canadians have probably never set foot in Toronto so their opinions are based on rumours and the media.

There are unpleasant spots even around downtown Toronto (like along part of Spadina or Queen Street E, if those aren't all condos now) but they are nothing compared to the worst parts of Vancouver. Likewise there seems to be more random violence in Halifax. It might be better now but there used to be a lot of totally dead areas that seemed like prime spots for, say, 2 a.m. table leg beatings.

[dleung]

It's just those shootings that keep making the news. The city is ridiculously safe.

The data seems to suggest that college towns are least violent.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Wow Sydney (Cape Breton) is so safe its not even listed ...

I think Sydney got demoted to CA status from CMA due to population loss. It's now below the 100,000 cut off. Sad to think that Sydney had 110,703 all the way back in 1941 and reached a peak of 131,507 in 1961.

[SignalHillHiker]

The media in St. John's is having fun with this one. While driving yesterday, the story was introduced on the radio like this:

"When you're out enjoying this gorgeous city of ours... do you feel safe? New statistics rank St. John's as one of the most dangerous cities in Canada. The list of cities we're supposedly more dangerous than will shock you, from Toronto to Calgary. We're counted among cities out west that have more murders every year than we've had in 500."

And so on.

The general consensus was that the crimes are largely a result of the booming drug trade (fuelled by St. John's new oil and gas wealth). No one really sees most of it or knows it's going on.

I certainly feel safe.

[MolsonExport]

What the hell is going on in North Bottlefart?

Surprised that Langley BC is on that list. I recall it well from my BC days, but it was nowhere near as bad then as next door Surrey (I am lookin' at you, Whalley).

[jeremy_haak]

I certainly think it makes sense to look at violent crime separately from other sorts of crime.

Originally Posted by isaidso

I think Sydney got demoted to CA status from CMA due to population loss. It's now below the 100,000 cut off. Sad to think that Sydney had 110,703 all the way back in 1941 and reached a peak of 131,507 in 1961.

It is actually above 100,000, but I think it might not meet the 50,000 cut-off for urban area. It would have never been considered a CMA though, because Statistics Canada retains CMAs in perpetuity regardless of population. (reference)

[Symz]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

i don't know why canadians always imagine toronto to be unsafe.

Living next to Detroit, Toronto seems pretty damned safe to me.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

What the hell is going on in North Bottlefart?

Demographics: young, male, transient and underemployed. Small town Ontario and Atlantic Canada are the opposite: older, more female, strong links to community and proportionately more likely to be retired.

[roccerfeller]

Winnipeg has had a rough wave of crime recently. Some unfortunate things like random stabbings and such.

But even Winnipeg is relatively safe. Montréal has always felt very safe to me as well. I've never felt like either city is unsafe.

Calgary for me is exceptionally safe.

I think even the most "unsafe" cities in Canada absolutely pale in comparison to American cities, and we should all be grateful and thankful for that.

[Wishblade]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

I certainly think it makes sense to look at violent crime separately from other sorts of crime.



It is actually above 100,000, but I think it might not meet the 50,000 cut-off for urban area. It would have never been considered a CMA though, because Statistics Canada retains CMAs in perpetuity regardless of population. (reference)

The last CMA count has them at about 98k so I think they are actually under it now. But I have also heard the same about CMA's not losing their status due to population.

[Vertigo3000]

Toronto's crime rate makes sense, I feel pretty safe, but then again my internet homepage isn't yahoo or any fear mongering media source, I use Zeitnews. And I've never had problems with crime when I lived there recently(and frequent visits annually). I have never felt unsafe there.

[jeremy_haak]

I'm showing 101,619 for 2011. Are you maybe using the data for the municipality instead?

[north 42]

Wow, 5 of the 10 communities on the Lowest Crime Severity Index list are right here in Essex County! Just goes to show that Windsor- Essex is a vey safe part of the country, contrary to what some people might think. Proximity to the Detroit area really doesn't have much effect on our crime stats here. Great to see the area doing so well!

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Wow Sydney (Cape Breton) is so safe its not even listed ...

While I am glad to be outside of the top 10 I have to say St. John's seems oddly placed. I'd feel safer there at 3am then I would in Calgary or Toronto in the daytime ...

Crime has increased in St. John's, but I have to say that a large reason St. John's places so high is probably due to the amount of crime compared to its low population. It isn't a city where you'll walk in to the wrong neighbourhood and find yourself in trouble, but the crime rate is definitely higher than that of other cities its size. You'll rarely find yourself in trouble unless you're a drug dealer or drunk and stumbling around George Street at 3 am.

Last year was also a record year for homicides in the city, most of which involved guns. That may inflate the violent crime severity index more than it would be typically any other year (as there have been no homicides yet this year). However it's safe to say that the quiet, quaint St. John's of the past is but a distant memory.

[cjbs1]

Originally Posted by Wishblade

The last CMA count has them at about 98k so I think they are actually under it now. But I have also heard the same about CMA's not losing their status due to population.

I've spent part of the past 2 years in Sydney, NS, and I have witnessed this town shrink.

Buildings have closed, got demolished, and never replaced. Downtown Sydney is a sad place to be.
The surroundings area like Whitney Pier, Membertou and so on are even worse, with countless abandoned homes and such.

The crime rate here is pretty low because of the aging population.

Some of the elders told me stories of years in the 1970s when Sydney had 10-15 murders a year. That was before the mines closed, the steel mill went bankrupt and the cod fishery collapsed!

Now it sometimes has 1 or 2 murders. sometimes 0 !!