According to Numbeo’s latest North America Safety Index, Quebec City ranked as the safest city on the continent, followed by Burlington, Ottawa, Montreal and Guelph. Overall, Canada accounted for six of the 10 safest cities in North America.
The rankings are based on Numbeo’s continuously updated Safety Index, which uses crowdsourced survey data reflecting residents’ perceptions of crime and personal safety.
The top five positions were all occupied by Canadian cities, with Ontario and Quebec dominating the rankings.
- Quebec City, Quebec
- Burlington, Ontario
- Ottawa, Ontario
- Montreal, Quebec
- Guelph, Ontario
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Irvine, California
- Calgary, Alberta
- Boise, Idaho
All Canadian cities in the North American top 10 received a “High” safety rating, with corresponding “Low” crime index scores.
In total, 33 Canadian cities were included among the 79 North American cities evaluated in the index
The national rankings feature cities from five provinces, with Ontario leading the list with four entries
Vancouver was the only city in Canada’s top 10 to receive a “Moderate” crime rating, while all other cities remained in the “Low” crime category
Numbeo’s Safety Index is based on user-submitted surveys collected over the past five years and is updated continuously. The index measures residents’ perceptions of safety rather than official police-reported crime statistics.
Survey participants are asked about their sense of safety during the day and at night, perceived crime levels, concerns about offences such as robbery, vehicle theft, assault, harassment and bias-motivated incidents, as well as the severity of property and violent crime in their communities.
Cities are scored on a scale of 0 to 100, with higher safety scores corresponding to lower crime index scores. Only cities that receive a sufficient number of survey responses are included in the rankings.
