Toronto ranked 12th safest city in Canada in new survey

The most dangerous city in Canada is Surrey, B.C.

Published Jul 30, 2026  •  Last updated 1 hour ago  •  2 minute read

Rue du Petit-Champlain, a renowned, pedestrian-only cobblestone street in Old Quebec City. In a recent survey, Quebec City was deemed the safest city in Canada. Photo by Photo by Jérémie CRESPIN /ADOBE STOCK

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There are a lot of top 10 lists out there, but this one isn’t anything to be proud of.

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“The South African city of Pietermaritzburg is the most dangerous city in the world according to the residents surveyed,” states a new report released earlier this month by Compare the Market Australia.

Pietermaritzburg had a crime index score of 82.8 out of 100; Pretoria, S. A. is second with an 81.8 score; Caracas, Venezuela is ranked the third most dangerous city in the world at 81.4; fourth is Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea at 81.3 and Johannesburg, S.A., is fifth with a score of 80.8.

According to the survey, five of the 10 most dangerous cities in the world are located in South Africa.

Closer to home, the most dangerous city in Canada is Surrey, B.C with a ranking of 63.5; Lethbridge, Alta., is second at 63.1 and Red Deer, Alta., is third with 63.

Sudbury, Ont., is ranked as the most dangerous city in the province with a score of 62.5.

Of the 411 cities analyzed, cities in Ontario that made the top 200 in terms of dangerous cities are Windsor (46.5), followed by St. Catharines (47.3), London (53.8), Brampton (55.5), Hamilton (56.2) and Oshawa (60.2).

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The safest cities in Canada were deemed Quebec City (22.4), Oakville (25.9) and Markham (27.2). Toronto was ranked the 12th safest in the Canada (43.5).

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Left coast trouble spot

Scenic view of downtown Kelowna at sunset from Knox Mountain Park, featuring the William Bennett Bridge, Okanagan Lake, and distant mountains. Kelowna was ranked eight worldwide in cities with the biggest increase in crime since 2019. Photo by iStockphoto/Getty Images

Kelowna, B.C. made the top 10 list, ranking 8th worldwide in cities with the biggest increase in crime rating since 2019.

In 2019, Kelowna’s number was 48.2, climbing to 62.1 in 2026, an increase of 13.9. Minsk, Belarus was number one jumping from 23 in 2019 to 49.9 this year, an increase of 26.9.

Four of the top five safest cities were in the United Arab Emirates.

Abu Dhabi (11.1), Ajman (13.5), Sharjah (15.5) were the top three, with Doha, Qatar (15.5) at fourth and Dubai (16.1) rounding out the top 5.

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