Prince George has been listed as the 21st most dangerous place in Canada, according to Macleans Canada’s Most Dangerous Places 2019 rankings.
Every year the publication combs through crime statistics to list the most dangerous places in the country.
Macleans ranks communities according to the Crime Severity Index, a Statistics Canada measure of all police-reported crime. It takes into consideration both the volume and seriousness of offences.
The 2019 list pulls from the most recent data available (which is the 2017 data released July 23, 2018).
The list looks at homicides and assaults, theft and property crime, drug offences, and youth crime.
The 2017 data shows Prince George was above the national average in a number of areas:
- Prince George had four homicides with a homicide rate of 5.38 incidents (per 100,000 population), which is above the national average of 1.68 incidents.
- There were 632 assaults with an assault rate of 850.29 incidents (per 100,000 population) which is above the national average of 430.68 incidents.
- Fifty sexual assaults were reported, and the city’s sexual assault rate is 67.27 incidents (per 100,000 population), which is above the national average of 56.56 incidents.
- There were 10 firearms offences and the firearms offences rate is 13.45 incidents (per 100,000 population), which is above the national average of 6.79 incidents.
Prince George has had quite the history on the Maclean’s annual rankings list. In 2011, Prince George was dubbed Canada’s Most Dangerous City, for the third year in a row.
Last year, Prince George placed 11th on the list but has since dropped 10 whole spots; PG is sandwiched between Leduc, Alta. (20) and Owen Sound, Ont. (22).
The number one most dangerous place in Canada is Wetaskiwin, Alta., followed by Red Deer and Lethbridge.
The least dangerous place in Canada is Temiskaming Shores, Ont., which comes in at 237.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story mistakenly identified the number of incidents (per 100,000 population) as percentages. We apologize for the error.
