Blue Bird Blog

Eight cities in Ontario among Canada’s safest

Rentola, an online platform for tenants and landlords, recently published a report on Canada’s safest cities. According to the study eight of the top ten safest cities in Canada were in Ontario. The study also found that of the top 20 safest cities in Canada, 10 were in Ontario.

The report ranked Canadian cities in terms of the efficacy of law enforcement and the crime rate within a city, to give each a safety score. The study drew upon Statistics Canada data, and takes into account:

Number of citizens per police officer;
Violent crime index (focusing on serious crimes like homicides, assaults, robbery, etc.);
Non-violent crime index (focusing on crimes like embezzlement, insider trading, fraud, etc.);
Crime solving rate (calculated by taking solved cases as a percentage of total crimes reported); and
Crime severity index (derived by studying the seriousness and frequency of crimes within a city);

The study subsequently looked to include all of these results into a single safety score. The system used a 1 to 10 grading scale, with 1 being the least safe, and 10 being the safest possible score.

Below are the ten safest cities in Canada, with corresponding safety score:

Barrie, Ontario: 7.13;
Brantford, Ontario: 7.00;
Guelph, Ontario: 6.84;
Toronto, Ontario: 6.63;
Saint John, New Brunswick: 6.63;
Bellelville, Ontario: 6.43;
Windsor, Ontario: 6.42;
St. Catharines-Niagra, Ontario: 6.40;
Lethbridge, Alberta; 6.37
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ontario: 6.29

Notable in the list is Toronto’s inclusion as the 4th safest city in Canada. Toronto is Canada’s largest city with a population (as of the last census) of 2.7 million people in the city itself, and a wider population of 6.2 million when considering the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)—as the Rentola study has done. Comparably populous Canadian cities of Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary scored much lower on the list with smaller populations; providing a strong case (in the limits of this study) for the prevalent safety of Canada’s most populated city and municipal areas.

From a provincial standpoint, of the 34 cities that were included in this report, 14 were in Ontario, six were in Quebec, four were in British Columbia, and three were in Alberta. According to the website’s Crime Severity Index (CSI) findings, Ontario and Quebec held notably lower crime severity than other Canadian provinces—a surprising finding given that these are respectively the two most populated provinces in the country. Equally surprising was the report’s finding that the Northwest Territories had by far the most severe crime in the country.

Notably the report does take the time to mention that while many Canadian cities showcase a high safety score and low crime-rate, there is always some level of crime expected to occur, whether serious or non-serious. Despite this, Canadian cities continue to remain some of the safest in the world.

Can I use this information to decide where to live?

While the Rentola report does not claim to be an exhaustive study of all safety considerations, or even of all Canadian cities (with a lack of data cited for their exclusion), the report provides some valuable insight of crime and law enforcement in various cities that readers can use to gain an understanding of a city’s safety. In addition, Statistics Canada has also released data that can help newcomers be better informed on where they can move and still be connected to a big city.Readers can also look at reports that include other factors, like Gross Domestic Product, nightlife, weather, and more; correlating these studies can help make newcomers choose the optimal location to settle into their new life in Canada.

source: cicnews.com

Here’s why the number of temporary workers in Quebec has nearly quadrupled in eight years

According to a recent report by a Quebec-based non-profit think tank, the province’s growth in temporary immigrants was primarily driven by two programs: the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and the International Mobility Program (IMP).
According to this report, published by the Institut du Quebec (IDQ) last month, Quebec’s temporary resident population grew 46% in 2023 and most of this growth was due to an influx of temporary workers. Specifically, Quebec had 167,435 temporary work permit holders last year, almost four times as many as in 2015.

How long will it take to become a permanent resident of Canada in 2024?

Foreign nationals seeking permanent residence (PR) in Canada often look for the fastest pathway to achieving their goal and starting a new life in this country.
On a basic level, Canada has four primary immigration classes: economic immigration, family-class sponsorship, humanitarian/compassionate immigration and immigration for refugees/protected persons.
However, within those four general classifications, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) provides foreign nationals with more than 100 ways to immigrate to Canada.

Canada implements policies to increase affordability of housing and groceries

A new Leger poll conducted for OMNI news, illustrated the effect of an increasing cost of living on newcomers in Canada. According to the study, 83% of the 1522 newcomers surveyed felt that affordability issues were making settling in Canada more difficult.

Simultaneously, a recent study by Statistics Canada found that more than a third of newcomers who recently arrived in the country were in renting situations where they needed to spend more than a third of their pre-tax income on rent.

On February 6th the federal government announced new policies to help increase affordability for Canadians, and those living in Canada. Similar affordability policies were instituted by the government last year.

5 challenges newcomers face in Canada and how to deal with them

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025 aims to welcome over 460,000 new immigrants each year, which is the highest level in Canadian history.
Upon arrival, newcomers must settle into their new homes and may experience some challenges adjusting to Canada and their new lives in the country.

Canada’s top employers in 2024

MediaCorp has released its list of winners for 2024's “100 top employers in Canada” competition.
The annual event (which has been running since the year 2000) continues to not just garner wide-spread attention in Canada, but also shapes the employment searches of Canadians and newcomers alike. The competition aims to recognise employers that lead their industries in “offering exceptional workplaces for their employees”.

Canada invests $86 million to recognize foreign healthcare credentials

On January 15th, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, Randy Boissonnault, announced $86 million in funding to 15 organizations across Canada.
The funding will go towards speeding up the accreditation for internationally educated health professionals (IEHP), since long wait times and difficulty finding a family physician are increasingly common issues across the country.