5 guides, each rated 1 to 5 with the reason — and two lists per place, where you are comfortable and where to pay attention. Nowhere is called dangerous; the specific thing is what helps.
Wildlife and weather, not crime. This is grizzly and black bear country: carry spray on trails, know how to use it, make noise, and never get between a bear and its cubs. Elk are more dangerous than people expect, especially in autumn rut and spring calving. Mountain weather turns fast and snow is possible in any month.
Comfortable: Banff Avenue · Canmore · Lake Louise
Elk in the rut in September and October, which charge, and which walk through the town
Bears on any trail — carry spray and know how to use it, which is not the same as owning it
The Icefields Parkway in winter, which has no fuel for 230km
Very safe, walkable late, and the main risk is winter: −14°C lows in January, ice underfoot and snow that arrives in quantity. Speak French first or at least open with bonjour — it is not a safety matter but it changes every interaction. Cyclists have right of way in ways drivers from elsewhere find surprising.
Comfortable: Plateau Mont-Royal · Old Montreal · Mile End · Outremont
Berri-UQAM — the station area at night
Ice underfoot from December to March, which is the actual injury statistic here
Among the safest cities of its size anywhere, and the crime rate is genuinely low. Winter is the whole risk list: −15°C, ice on cobbled slopes, and a wind off the river that finds every gap in a coat. The Carnaval in February is wonderful and cold in a way that visitors consistently underestimate.
Comfortable: Old Quebec · Saint-Roch · Montcalm
Ice on the Old Town stairs in winter, which is the genuine hazard here
A very safe city with one visible exception: the Downtown Eastside around Hastings and Main is the sharp end of Canada’s drug crisis, and while it is not dangerous to walk through in daylight it is confronting and best not wandered into at night. Otherwise the risks are outdoors — cold Pacific water, bears on the North Shore trails, and weather that turns on a mountain in an hour.
Comfortable: West End, Vancouver · Kitsilano · Yaletown · Gastown
Downtown Eastside — which has a visible and severe drug crisis
Car break-ins at trailhead car parks, which are constant
Hiking the North Shore mountains unprepared, which is the region’s standing rescue problem
One of the safest big cities in North America, and comfortable to walk downtown at night. Ordinary care applies around the entertainment district at closing time and on the subway late. Winter is the actual hazard: −20°C with wind off the lake, and pavements that ice over — which is why the PATH exists.
Comfortable: The Annex · Leslieville · Roncesvalles · Queen West
Moss Park — and Sherbourne, at night
Bag theft on busy patios
The ratings are this site's own, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in; they are not an index. Read the general advice in travel safety tips.
