More than a third of Torontonians don’t feel safe in their own neighbourhood after dark: poll

More than a third of Torontonians, 35 pre cent, say they don’t feel safe walking around their neighbourhood after dark, according to a new poll, but it is a three per cent improvement over last year.

The Canada Pulse Insights poll conducted exclusively for CityNews found Torontonians feelings on personal safety and police response is slightly better than the previous year’s result.

Pollster John Wright said despite crime rates decreasing, there have been more reports of random acts of aggression that we weren’t used to seeing before that could be contributing to the numbers.

“There are certain neighbourhoods, in fact, where you feel a little more anxious because of what you see or experience on the street or on the TTC. That’s something which then builds an anxiety level of saying, you know, let’s not go out here or let’s not go there. That’s something which does exist today, which probably pre-COVID wasn’t as much,” said Wright.

Three in ten of those polled found police response times were bad or terrible, down from 40 per cent last year, while 71 per cent said they were good or great.

Despite police response times easing slightly. 68 per cent worry police will be too slow if they need them, down from 72 per cent last year.

Wright said there has been lots of pressure on Toronto emergency services to improve response times and they have, but there is still room to improve.

“The critical thing is not so much whether they respond in time. You want them to, but whether or not people believe that they have the ability once they pick up the phone and they call for it, that it will be coming. I think it shows in the numbers that it’s better. People are feeling more confident about it, but we’re not at a level where people are convinced that it’s going to happen immediately,” said Wright.

However, other concerns are still high. Fifteen per cent had reported they were personally a victim of theft, assault, or street harassment in the past 12 months and 32 per cent said they knew someone who was.

Nearly four in 10 (38 per cent) of those surveyed said they were not confident that a hate crime reported in their community would be acted on.

It comes ahead of the Toronto municipal election where crime, policing, and public safety was ranked second in the top issues facing the city.

When asked what crimes police should be focusing on, 46 per cent of residents ranked gun violence first, followed by home invasions and robberies at 37 per cent and gang violence at 31 per cent.

Meanwhile in the GTA, there were also reported improvements in some aspects of public safety, but the poll found they had similar concerns about police response.

Seventy-three per cent of residents said they felt safe walking after dark, up from 64 per cent in last year’s poll. When it came to police response times, 28 per cent rated them as bad or terrible while 34 per cent said they were not confident a hate crime reported in their community would be acted upon.

When it came to what police should be most concerned about, over half of the GTA residents surveryed, 52 per cent, put home invasions and robbery first, followed by carjacking and vehicle thefts at 43 per cent and gun violence at 33 per cent.

CityNews spoke to residents who most said they did feel safe in Toronto, but mentioned being aware of your surroundings and extra cautious

“I’m cautious. I feel safe, but I’m cautious. You know, it’s an area that’s changed. This area has a lot more challenges now than what it had before, and so if you’re going to be out at night or be coming home late at night, just be wary and touch wood. You’ll be okay,” said one resident in the Danforth area.

“You have to be aware of your surroundings and like it’s unhoused people. It’s like the lecherous dudes at the bar right there. You know it’s a whole spectrum of life and people. So yeah, you just gotta be aware,” echoed another.

This survey was conducted among 510 adult residents of the City of Toronto by Canada Pulse Insights between Sept. 14 and 25, 2026. The margin of error for a probability-based sample of this size is +/- 4.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

More than a third of Torontonians, 35 pre cent, say they don’t feel safe walking around their neighbourhood after dark, according to a new poll, but it is a three per cent improvement over last year. The Canada Pulse Insights poll conducted exclusively for CityNews found Torontonians feelings on personal safety and police response is  Local 

More than a third of Torontonians, 35 pre cent, say they don’t feel safe walking around their neighbourhood after dark, according to a new poll, but it is a three per cent improvement over last year.

The Canada Pulse Insights poll conducted exclusively for CityNews found Torontonians feelings on personal safety and police response is slightly better than the previous year’s result.

Pollster John Wright said despite crime rates decreasing, there have been more reports of random acts of aggression that we weren’t used to seeing before that could be contributing to the numbers.

“There are certain neighbourhoods, in fact, where you feel a little more anxious because of what you see or experience on the street or on the TTC. That’s something which then builds an anxiety level of saying, you know, let’s not go out here or let’s not go there. That’s something which does exist today, which probably pre-COVID wasn’t as much,” said Wright.

Three in ten of those polled found police response times were bad or terrible, down from 40 per cent last year, while 71 per cent said they were good or great.

Despite police response times easing slightly. 68 per cent worry police will be too slow if they need them, down from 72 per cent last year.

Wright said there has been lots of pressure on Toronto emergency services to improve response times and they have, but there is still room to improve.

“The critical thing is not so much whether they respond in time. You want them to, but whether or not people believe that they have the ability once they pick up the phone and they call for it, that it will be coming. I think it shows in the numbers that it’s better. People are feeling more confident about it, but we’re not at a level where people are convinced that it’s going to happen immediately,” said Wright.

However, other concerns are still high. Fifteen per cent had reported they were personally a victim of theft, assault, or street harassment in the past 12 months and 32 per cent said they knew someone who was.

Nearly four in 10 (38 per cent) of those surveyed said they were not confident that a hate crime reported in their community would be acted on.

It comes ahead of the Toronto municipal election where crime, policing, and public safety was ranked second in the top issues facing the city.

When asked what crimes police should be focusing on, 46 per cent of residents ranked gun violence first, followed by home invasions and robberies at 37 per cent and gang violence at 31 per cent.

Meanwhile in the GTA, there were also reported improvements in some aspects of public safety, but the poll found they had similar concerns about police response.

Seventy-three per cent of residents said they felt safe walking after dark, up from 64 per cent in last year’s poll. When it came to police response times, 28 per cent rated them as bad or terrible while 34 per cent said they were not confident a hate crime reported in their community would be acted upon.

When it came to what police should be most concerned about, over half of the GTA residents surveryed, 52 per cent, put home invasions and robbery first, followed by carjacking and vehicle thefts at 43 per cent and gun violence at 33 per cent.

CityNews spoke to residents who most said they did feel safe in Toronto, but mentioned being aware of your surroundings and extra cautious

“I’m cautious. I feel safe, but I’m cautious. You know, it’s an area that’s changed. This area has a lot more challenges now than what it had before, and so if you’re going to be out at night or be coming home late at night, just be wary and touch wood. You’ll be okay,” said one resident in the Danforth area.

“You have to be aware of your surroundings and like it’s unhoused people. It’s like the lecherous dudes at the bar right there. You know it’s a whole spectrum of life and people. So yeah, you just gotta be aware,” echoed another.

This survey was conducted among 510 adult residents of the City of Toronto by Canada Pulse Insights between Sept. 14 and 25, 2026. The margin of error for a probability-based sample of this size is +/- 4.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.