Canada has experienced a rapid rise in violent crime since 2014 and has surpassed the United States when it comes to property crime.
A report from the Fraser Institute compared the violent crime rates and the property crime rates of Canada’s census metropolitan areas to the United States’ metropolitan statistical areas over a nearly 20-year span.
The report found that since 2014, Canada’s metropolitan areas experienced a 40-per-cent increase in violent crime from 184 per 100,000 to 258 per 100,000 in 2022, while the United States experienced just a seven-per-cent increase from 313 per 100,000 to 335 per 100,000 in the same period.
As for property crime, the United States’s metropolitan areas experienced a steady drop in the property crime rate for two decades, falling from 3,813 per 100,000 in 2004 to 2,001 per 100,000 in 2022 – a 48-per-cent decline.
From 2004 to 2014, Canada also saw a steady decline in the property crime rate from 3908 per 100,000 to 2,121 per 100,000 in 2014 – a 46 per cent decrease. However, property crimes have since been on the rise in recent years, peaking at 2,458 per 100,000 in 2019 and leveling out to 2,158 per 100,000 in 2022.
Underscoring that rise, Lethbridge, AB and Kelowna, BC own the dubious distinction of having the highest property crime rates of all cities in Canada and the United States, outpacing Pueblo, Colorado’s rate of 4,911.4 per 100,000.
Out of the 36 metropolitan areas in Canada, Winnipeg ranks as the most violent city in the country with a violent crime rate of 675 per 100,000 from 2019 to 2022. Other notably violent cities include Thunder Bay, ON, Regina, SK, Saskatoon, SK, and Lethbridge, AB.
Sherbrooke, QC ranks as the safest metro area with a rate of only 102 per 100,000 while other notable safe cities include Quebec City, QC, Barrie, ON, Guelph, ON, and the Niagara region in Ontario. The average violent crime rate was 262 per 100,000.
Among Canada’s five largest metropolitan areas, Calgary, has the highest population-adjusted crime rate at 294.2 per 100,000, with Vancouver placing second, Montréal, QC placing third, Ottawa at fourth, and Toronto being the safest.
Out of the United States’ 298 metropolitan areas, Winnipeg would rank as the 18th most violent American city, but is dwarfed in the violent crime rate by Memphis, Tennessee at 1,310 per 100,000.
The highest property crime rate in the same time span belongs to Lethbridge at 5,521 per 100,000 with Kelowna placing second at 4931.7 per 100,000. At the bottom lies many cities in Quebec – Quebec City being the safest of them all with a rate of 925 per 100,000.
Among Canada’s five largest metropolitan areas, Vancouver has the highest property crime rate, followed in order by Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, and Montréal.
The report concluded that Canada has a larger property crime problem than the United States and while Canada may have a lower violent crime rate, Canada is closing the safety gap with the United States.
“A key takeaway here is that some American urban areas are as safe if not safer than Canadian ones when it comes to both violent and property crime rates,” reads the report.
“Another interesting takeaway is that when it comes to both violent crime and property crimes, CMAs in Quebec are often at the bottom of these rankings.”