Is Montreal safe?
Canada · North America · data updated 2026-09-04
Montreal is a city in Canada, home to about 2.7M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 1,998 of 6,168, with a safety score of 78.9 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.
Emergency 911 (ambulance, fire, police)
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Canada are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Montreal really?
The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Montreal recorded 1.5 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2022 - close to the global city median. Canada is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 31.5), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Canada at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2025-06-10). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Canada without any avoid-travel warning in force. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Canada
Terrorism in Canada · Crime · Illegal drugs and cannabis · Wildlife · Outdoor activities and adventure tourism · Road travel · Driving in winter · Hurricanes · Avalanches · Earthquakes and tsunamis · Thunderstorms · Winter storms · Tornadoes · Wildfires · +1 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Canada — country-level, not specific to Montreal. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 1.5 /100kcity-measured, 2022
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 31.5country, 2022
- Human development
- HDI 0.939country, 2023
- Income
- $66,820/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 2.7Murban centre · 3,780/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 5.3 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 76/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 82/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 75/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 2.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.89Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 6.6 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 97%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 2.8 doctors /1k2.5 hospital beds per 1,000
Natural hazards in Canada
- Flood
- 7.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 5.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 4.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 2.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 1.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Canada as a whole, not Montreal specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Canada (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Canada; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Montreal that gives 78.9/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Montreal compared with Ottawa
| Measure | Montreal | Ottawa | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 78.9 | 79.9 | −1.0 — better for Ottawa |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 1.5 /100k | 1.3 /100k | +0.2 /100k — better for Ottawa |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Canada, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Ottawa →
Nearby cities
- Longueuil 78.9
- Orléans 79.9
- Gatineau 79.9
- Ottawa 79.9
- Quebec City 85.3
- Syracuse, United States 63.7
- Lawrence, United States 63.7
- Lowell, United States 63.7
See Montreal on the interactive map → · Safest cities in North America → · Full travel briefings →