Public Safety
Toronto is a safe city. In a recent poll, 78% of the residents in the Toronto area reported that they felt safe walking the streets of their neighborhood after dark, while 85% reported satisfaction with police service. (Source: Ipsos-Reid Poll, Toronto: Crime and Safety in the City, 2003).
Commercial districts are clean and pleasant. In the great majority of residential areas, people do not hesitate to walk at any hour of the day or night. There are dozens of districts with lively nightlife and thousands of people stroll for pleasure in the evenings.
Crime rates in the Greater Toronto Area are significantly lower than in other North American cities of comparable size. Overall crime rates have been steadily decreasing since 1994. Homicides, muggings and crimes involving guns are relatively rare. Petty crimes, crimes associated with liquor and substance abuse, domestic disputes and robberies remain well below North American averages.
The Toronto region has one of the lowest crime rates compared to other metropolitan areas.
Crime rates for selected Criminal Code offences by census metropolitan area (2003)
| |
Homicide |
Robbery |
Break-ins |
Motor vehicle theft |
Total Criminal Code Offences |
% change in rate 2002 to 2003 |
| Toronto CMA |
1.9 |
112 |
541 |
372 |
5,304 |
0.1 |
| Montreal CMA |
1.6 |
158 |
921 |
659 |
7,938 |
11.3 |
| Vancouver CMA |
2.1 |
153 |
1,350 |
1,261 |
11,576 |
4.5 |
| Canada |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
8,132 |
5.5 |
Sources: Statistics Canada
Note: Rates are calculated per 100,000 population.
Total Criminal Code offences also include other Criminal Code offences (excluding traffic) not shown in this table
Toronto ranks as one of the safest cities in North America.
Source: Relocation Crime Lab Index.
Note: The Relocation Crime Lab Index gives the city's crime rate relative to the national average of all the cities in the database. A value of 200 means that the city has twice the crime rate as the average city. The number of crimes reported (not shown in this table) has been adjusted to yield a rate per 100,000 people.
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