A new Liaison Strategies national public\u2011safety perception study places Winnipeg at the bottom of a 15\u2011city comparison, marking the weakest net safety score in the country. The survey, conducted August 30\u201331, finds only 31% of Canadians consider Winnipeg \u201csafe,\u201d while 59% say it is \u201cunsafe,\u201d producing a net score of \u201328 \u2014 the lowest among all cities measured.<\/p>\n
Net safety reflects the share of respondents who say a city is very or somewhat safe minus those who say it is somewhat or very unsafe. Toronto follows at \u201318, while Vancouver and Edmonton each sit at \u20138. The results also show Winnipeg\u2019s safety reputation has worsened over time: its net score has dropped from \u201318 in 2017 to \u201328 today.<\/p>\n
Unlike cities where perception diverges from official crime data, Winnipeg\u2019s public image and its crime statistics point in the same direction. The city holds the highest Crime Severity Index among the cities tested, reinforcing the public\u2019s view that Winnipeg faces significant safety challenges.<\/p>\n
The Liaison study asked Canadians to rate 15 major cities on a scale from \u201cvery safe\u201d to \u201cvery unsafe,\u201d or indicate if they lacked enough information to say. The poll surveyed 1,500 adults using Interactive Voice Recording (IVR) and random\u2011digit dialing, weighted to demographic and geographic targets. The margin of error is \u00b12.53 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.<\/p>\n
Liaison Strategies, one of Canada\u2019s most accurate polling firms \u2014 ranked #1 in the 2025 Ontario election and #2 nationally in the 2025 federal election \u2014 says Winnipeg stands out sharply in this year\u2019s results.<\/p>\n
\u201cWinnipeg is the clearest safety concern in this study,\u201d said David Valentin, Principal at Liaison Strategies. \u201cPublic perception and official indicators are reinforcing each other, making the issue harder to dismiss and harder to communicate around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only 12% of respondents say crime statistics are the main factor shaping their impressions of city safety. Most rely on news coverage, personal experience, word of mouth, and broader city reputation \u2014 a challenge for Winnipeg as both perception and data trend negatively.<\/p>\n