Canada

These are the safest places in Canada

It's never a great idea to leave your doors unlocked, but if you're determined to, these cities are where you're likely the safest

No matter where you live in Canada, your chances of becoming a victim of crime are low—but if you want to be where the odds are lowest, Rothesay and Quispamsis, N.B., might be for you.

These two riverside towns just northeast of Saint John with a population of 29,000 have a crime severity index of 18.25, the lowest of the 237 Canadian urban areas ranked by Maclean’s and almost 55 points lower than Canada’s overall CSI of 72.9. The crime severity index is a measure used by Statistics Canada that accounts for the both the number and seriousness of crimes.

READ: These are Canada’s most dangerous places

It’s never a great idea to leave your doors unlocked, but if you’re determined to, Rothesay and Quispamsis are the places to do it. They had the lowest rate of breaking and entering in the country in 2017 with just 18 incidents, or a rate of 61.32 per 100,000 people.

Rothesay and Quispamsis are the only towns from Atlantic Canada to make our list of the top 50 safest places in the country. The majority of them are from Ontario, with communities in Canada’s most populous province accounting for two-thirds of the list.

Selwyn, Ont. and Amherstburg, Ont. are the second and third safest places in Canada, respectively. The Peterborough County township of Selwyn’s CSI is just slightly higher than Rothesay and Quispamsis’ at 18.7, while the Windsor, Ont. bedroom community of Amherstburg has a CSI of 20.93.

READ: Why crime’s getting worse in Wetaskiwin, Alta.

Seven communities from Quebec and eight from British Columbia also cracked the top 50. Just one town in Alberta made the cut—High River, whose CSI of 38.68 makes it the 45th safest place in Canada.

The safest place in Quebec, and the 15th safest place in Canada, is the Regional County Municipality of Collines-de-l’Outaouais. This area outside Ottawa includes Val-des-Monts and Chelsea and has a CSI of 27.77.

Just one spot below is the safest place in British Columbia. North Saanich has a CSI of 27.84 and also has one of the lowest levels of violent crime in the country.

Our annual Dangerous Places report ranks communities according to Statistics Canada’s Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, a measure of all police-reported crime. For more information, please see our methodology page.

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Community Province Crime Severity Index (CSI) Five-year percent change in CSI Population Police service Number of homicides in 2017 Homicide rate per 100,000 people Breaking and entering rate per 100,000 people Assault level 1 rate per 100,000 people
Rothesay and Quispamsis New Brunswick 18.25 -31% 29355 Kennebecasis Regional Police Force 0 0 61.32 163.52
Selwyn Ontario 18.7 -55% 15417 Ontario Provincial Police, Peterborough County (Selwyn) detachment 0 0 116.75 110.27
Amherstburg Ontario 20.93 23% 22775 Amherstburg Police Service 0 0 92.21 166.85
Petawawa Ontario 22.14 -10% 14491 Ontario Provincial Police, Upper Ottawa Valley (Petawawa) detachment 0 0 138.02 234.63
Hamilton Township Ontario 24.02 5% 11207 Ontario Provincial Police, Northumberland (Hamilton) detachment 0 0 249.84 80.31
Georgian Bluffs Ontario 24.2 -11% 10835 Ontario Provincial Police, Grey County (Georgian Bluffs) detachment 0 0 119.98 156.9
Essex Ontario 25.35 -25% 20828 Ontario Provincial Police, Essex detachment 0 0 148.84 278.47
Kingsville Ontario 25.51 -9% 22675 Ontario Provincial Police, Essex County (Kingsville) detachment 0 0 163.18 202.87
LaSalle Ontario 26.62 25% 29987 LaSalle Police Service 0 0 186.75 50.02
Innisfil and Bradford West Gwillimbury Ontario 27.01 -20% 67763 South Simcoe Police Service 1 1.48 104.78 197.75
Rideau Lakes Ontario 27.04 -24% 10661 Ontario Provincial Police, Rideau Lakes detachment 0 0 206.36 253.26
Tecumseh Ontario 27.25 9% 25154 Ontario Provincial Police, Essex County (Tecumseh) detachment 0 0 166.97 119.27
Wellington County Ontario 27.56 -20% 95786 Ontario Provincial Police, Wellington County detachment 0 0 174.35 168.08
Lakeshore Ontario 27.7 6% 36140 Ontario Provincial Police, Essex County (Lakeshore) detachment 0 0 262.87 146.65
Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality Quebec 27.77 -44% 50471 MRC des Collines-de-l'Outaouais 0 0 241.72 334.85
North Saanich British Columbia 27.84 -9% 12116 RCMP, North Saanich detachment 0 0 214.59 132.06
Halton Region Ontario 27.89 -2% 581387 Halton Regional Police Service 3 0.52 178.71 177.51
Repentigny and Charlemagne Quebec 28.08 -37% 92542 Repentigny Police Service 1 1.08 145.88 273.39
South Frontenac Ontario 28.65 -18% 19240 Ontario Provincial Police, Frontenac (South Frontenac) detachment 0 0 259.88 176.72
Caledon Ontario 28.98 4% 68433 Ontario Provincial Police, Caledon detachment 0 0 200.2 182.66
Norwich Ontario 29.17 8% 11474 Ontario Provincial Police, Oxford (Norwich) detachment 0 0 322.47 148.16
Essa and area Ontario 29.49 -23% 62311 Ontario Provincial Police, Nottawasaga (New Tec./Essa/Adjala Tosor.) detachment 0 0 150.86 213.45
Grey Highlands Ontario 29.62 -20% 9996 Ontario Provincial Police, Markdale (Grey Highlands) detachment 0 0 230.09 340.14
North Grenville Ontario 30.14 -18% 15061 Ontario Provincial Police, Grenville County (North Grenville) detachment 0 0 225.75 199.19
Loyalist Ontario 32.5 -19% 16959 Ontario Provincial Police, Napanee (Loyalist) detachment 0 0 159.21 389.17
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Ontario 32.56 -26% 65892 Ontario Provincial Police, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry detachment 0 0 229.16 226.13
Lévis Quebec 32.63 -13% 145584 Lévis Police Service 1 0.69 161.42 234.92
Elgin County Ontario 32.98 0% 44720 Ontario Provincial Police, Elgin County detachment 0 0 310.82 178.89
Trent Hills Ontario 33.65 -23% 13648 Ontario Provincial Police, Northumberland (Trent Hills) detachment 0 0 278.43 227.14
Colwood British Columbia 33.88 -26% 17507 RCMP, Colwood detachment 0 0 194.21 177.07
Orangeville Ontario 34.47 -16% 32208 Orangeville Police Service 0 0 99.35 316.69
Richelieu-Saint-Laurent region Quebec 34.76 -22% 207757 Richelieu-Saint-Laurent Police Service 2 0.96 259.92 188.68
Comox British Columbia 35.03 33% 14495 RCMP, Comox detachment 0 0 117.28 158.68
Brighton Ontario 35.28 2% 11782 Ontario Provincial Police, Northumberland (Brighton) detachment 0 0 314.04 305.55
The Nation Ontario 35.44 -21% 12221 Ontario Provincial Police, Russell County/Hawkesbury (The Nation) detachment 0 0 147.29 245.48
St. Clair, Lambton and area Ontario 36.73 -14% 51124 Ontario Provincial Police, Lambton detachment 0 0 303.18 152.57
Coldstream British Columbia 36.83 19% 10589 RCMP, Coldstream detachment 0 0 226.65 160.54
Kincardine Ontario 37.23 -26% 11664 Ontario Provincial Police, South Bruce (Kincardine) detachment 0 0 274.35 214.33
York Region Ontario 37.34 5% 1163901 York Regional Police Service 9 0.77 178.54 191.68
Saanich British Columbia 37.36 -20% 119229 Saanich Police Department 0 0 145.1 293.55
Sidney British Columbia 37.5 -22% 12364 RCMP, Sidney detachment 0 0 145.58 186.02
Oak Bay British Columbia 38.09 -6% 19627 Oak Bay Police Department 2 10.19 163.04 86.62
North Perth Ontario 38.18 -28% 13317 Ontario Provincial Police, Perth (North Perth) detachment 0 0 255.31 285.35
Blainville Quebec 38.28 -18% 54319 Blainville Police Service 2 3.68 233.8 360.83
High River Alberta 38.68 -42% 16114 RCMP, High River detachment 0 0 111.7 297.88
Terrebonne and area Quebec 39.52 -32% 141574 Terrebonne Police Service 2 1.41 226.74 292.43
North Vancouver District Municipality British Columbia 39.82 -9% 93318 RCMP, North Vancouver District detachment 0 0 327.91 188.6
Prince Edward County Ontario 40.35 -24% 25491 Ontario Provincial Police, Prince Edward detachment 0 0 372.68 356.99
L'Assomption and area Quebec 40.46 -9% 24418 L'Assomption Police Service 0 0 188.39 327.63
Norfolk County Ontario 40.55 -5% 66184 Ontario Provincial Police, Norfolk County detachment 0 0 308.23 326.36

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