Barrie safest, Winnipeg least-safe place to live in Canada: Data

New data has been released on the safety and security of Canadian cities.

Rentola — a rental housing site — says they released their data to help Canadians, while they consider new places to live.

The site looked into various safety elements of Canadian cities, which includes, police forces, efficient emergency response systems, and community engagement initiatives.

Looking at the data

Crime severity index map. (Photo Credit: Rentola)

Cities in Ontario took the majority of the top ten spots listed in the safety index. Barrie took the top slot with an overall rating of 7.13 out of 10.

Toronto slotted into fourth with a 6.63 rating, behind Brantford and Guelph. The only two cities in the top ten that are outside of Ontario are Saint John, New Brunswick, and Lethbridge, Alberta.

Despite Lethbridge being in the top 10, Rentola found that the southern Alberta city has the highest crime rate across the country. The site noted that cumulative data indicates the majority of the crimes committed are classified as non-violent, adding high police officer numbers helps with a high rate of crime detection.

Winnipeg, Kelowna, and Thunder Bay took the bottom three spots on Rentola’s list. The three were all listed with an overall safety index below 5 out of 10.

Canada’s major cities — Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton — came in at 12th, 18th, 20th, and 21st respectively.

Toronto was listed as the sixth-highest city for violent crimes while ranking second last in non-violent crimes.

Montreal checked in at 15th for violent crimes, Vancouver 13th, Calgary 17th, Edmonton 27th, and Winnipeg second last.

As for non-violent crimes, Montreal was ranked 27th, Vancouver 8th, Calgary 17th, Edmonton 7th, and Winnipeg 6th.

For a complete breakdown of all the data compiled by Rentola, click here.