New poll ranks Winnipeg as the most unsafe city in the country

Poll finds Winnipeg viewed as most dangerous city The new Mainstreet/Postmedia poll found Winnipeg is perceived by the most Canadians to be unsafe.

A new Mainstreet/Postmedia poll of 4231 Canadians has found among 15 major cities surveyed, Winnipeg is seen as the most dangerous and Ottawa is seen as the safest.

In a news release, Mainstreet/Postmedia says while Winnipeg is seen as the most unsafe, crime statistics recently released by Stats Canada show Saskatoon actually has the highest crime rate in the country.

Toronto, Montreal, Saskatoon and Edmonton were the bottom five most unsafe. Only Toronto joined Winnipeg with a negative score with 46% saying it was unsafe.

Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Research, says Ottawa is Canada’s safest city according to the perceptions of Canadians with 72% saying it was either safe or very safe.

“At the other end of the spectrum, Winnipeg is perceived to be Canada’s unsafest city with just 35% indicating it was safe or very safe, compared with 56% who said it was unsafe,” Maggi says.

"Perceptions varied greatly across Canada in the case of Winnipeg. Winnipeg was viewed as safe by more people in Manitoba & Saskatchewan where it had a positive net score.”

Charlottetown, Moncton, St. John’s and Quebec City rounded out the top five among the safest.

The Mainstreet/Postmedia Poll has a margin of error of +/- 1.52%, 19 times out of 20.