Winnipeg is the nation’s most-dangerous city when it comes to violent crime, but Lethbridge is worst for property crime, finds a study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“When it comes to Canada’s five largest cities, Calgary and Vancouver have the distinction of comparatively higher rates of violent and property crime, respectively, compared to the country’s other major metro areas,” said Livio Di Matteo, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and author of Comparing Recent Crime Trends in Canada and the US: Urban Areas.
The chapter released Thursday, part of a larger upcoming study examining crime rates between the two countries, focuses on the rankings of large urban areas — known as Census Metropolitan Areas — of 100,000 people or more.
Nationwide, using the maximum annual crime rate from 2019 to 2022 (the most recent years of comparable date), Winnipeg had the highest violent crime rate at 675 crimes per 100,000. That’s more than twice the national average of 262. Violent crimes include murder, robbery, and assault with a weapon.
Calgary ranked 11th out of 36 Canadian urban areas in violent crime and was the highest ranked of Canada’s five largest cities. On violent crimes, Vancouver ranked 16th, Montreal ranked 18th and Toronto ranked 24th out of 36 urban areas.
On property crimes (e.g., burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft), Vancouver ranked highest of the four largest cities at 6th nationwide, followed by Calgary (7th), Toronto (27th) and Montreal (30th).
Lethbridge had the highest rate of property crime nationwide at 5,521 crimes per 100,000, which is more than twice the national average of urban areas at 2,513.
“Crime rates in Canadian cities, while still historically low, are on the rise and should be of greater concern for both citizens and policymakers,” Di Matteo said.
