Nearly half of Canadians view Toronto as unsafe: poll

Canadians view Toronto as one of the most dangerous cities in the country despite a crime rate that actually places it among the safest, a new poll has found.

Mainstreet Research asked 4,231 Canadians for their opinion on whether 15 major cities are safe or unsafe.

The poll revealed that 47 per cent of respondents view Toronto as unsafe compared to 46 per cent who view it as safe and seven per cent who weren’t sure. Only Winnipeg had a less favourable rating (56 per cent viewed it as unsafe). Montreal was the other city in the bottom three (44 per cent viewed it as unsafe).

Meanwhile, Ottawa topped the list with 72 per cent of respondents viewing the capital city as safe and just 16 per cent perceiving it as unsafe. Charlottetown (65 per cent viewed it as safe) and Moncton (64 per cent viewed it as safe) rounded out the top three.

The results contrast with Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index, which takes into account the total number of crimes in a given city as well as the severity.

Toronto actually had the second best score on that index, behind only Quebec City.

“Perceptions compared to Statistics Canada's Crime Severity Index yields some interesting comparisons. Toronto for example, ranks 14th out of 15 in terms of perceived safety, but ranks second behind just Quebec City and narrowly ahead of Ottawa which topped the rank of safest cities as perceived by Canadians,” Mainstreet Research President Quito Maggi said in a press release. “Winnipeg, which is ranked at the bottom by Canadians has a crime severity index lower than Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina and Saskatoon. The results paint an interesting portrait of how we see each other.”

Though age and gender did not appear to be a significant factor in how respondents viewed Canadian cities, there were some regional differences.

Notably, more Quebec residents thought Toronto was unsafe (59 per cent) than Canadians on the whole. Ontario residents had a more favourable view of the city with 55 per cent saying it was safe.

The poll has a margin of error of 1.52 per cent and is considered accurate 19 out of 20 times.