Is it true what they say about Canada?

Question

my brother told me that Canada has a very low crime rate, a crime rate that is so low that you could just walk into someone's home and all they'll say is "hi". is this actually true? is Canada's crime rate really low? can you literally step into someones else and all you would get is a "hi"? cause this sounds kind of odd and I don't know rather I should believe it or not.

Answer 1

I've always heard the same thing, but my mom went to vancouver and said that there were a bunch of methed out homeless ppl, but they weren't hurtin' nobody, right?

Answer 2

Not unless you walked in while a big party was going on. I know a few places in Canada where people don't lock their doors but I'm not telling where. Locked door or not, if someone I didn't know walked into my place I would say  a lot more than "hi", while reaching for the phone.

Answer 3

haha..

Well, there's crime like anywhere else.

I DO know that if you randomly walked into someone's house, they would probably get scared for a minute and ask what the h**l you're doing...but unless they felt particularly threatened, they'd probably just ask what you wanted.

Answer 4

Canada does, on the whole, have a low crime rate. In some places, it's lower than others. I'm writing from a place with one of the lowest crime rates in Canada, and I have my doors locked. It's just common sense. I mean, your house DOES have a lock on it, and most people use it.

Now, I'll admit, I leave it unlocked sometimes when I'm at home or if I run out to the corner store, and I leave the door wide open on a sunny day to let the breeze blow through. But I don't go to bed every night with my doors unlocked.

I live in the downtown of a sizable city (150000+ people), and I've had tourists walk by, knock on the wide open door and stand timidly outside to ask directions. I gesture for them to come into the house and have a seat, and they're not quite sure how to take that. Even in kind and gentle Canada, you'd have to be kind of a jerk to randomly walk into someone else's house and you'd probably get shouted at for it. Me, I'd just be confused, and if you didn't have a good reason why you're standing in my porch, I'd probably throw a phone at your head. Fortunately, there's little danger of being shot at for misentering people's houses.

(And for the record, I have walked into a total stranger's house before. I was going to a party, couldn't remember the precise address, and went into the house with all the people milling about. Let myself in, introduced myself to a few people ... turned out I was on the wrong street altogether. The host had a sense of humour about it and I had a beer with him, so that's my story ...)

Answer 5

I'm Canadian, here are some stats on Canada's crime rate:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/07/1...

If someone walked into my house I would probably assume they were a friend of one of my relatives because people come and go in my house a lot. Although, if they were an intruder I'd probably ask them if they were retarded and to get out of my house. One time this guy actually did stumble into our house because he was so drunk and disoriented he thought he was going into his friend's house which is next door to us... When he saw my dad come down the stairs he apologized and left lol.

I never really feel scared, even when I go downtown, the homeless people are harmless, plus there's cops everywhere. Sometimes I am lazy and I don't lock my door if I'm just stepping out for a minute, but I'm sure most people do lock their doors here!

Don't get me wrong though, bad stuff happens here all the time, there have been murders around my neighborhood, alot of home invasions in certain areas, and a lot of drug related stuff...I live in a good area, and generally I don't feel afraid to walk down the street at night. Some places are worse than others.

Answer 6

My door of my house is only locked at night or when nobody`s home.When i lived in a small town (pop.200) instead of the city.I never took the keys out of my car and never locked the door of my house and did not have anything stolen.

Answer 7

No, it's not true.  My wife is from a major Canadian city.  We watched Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" together, in which he interviews Canadians who say thing like your brother.  Perhaps he got the idea from this movie, but my wife was dumbfounded as what he presented was nothing like what life was really like in Canada for her or her family and friends.

The homeless are mostly harmless anywhere, I obviously agree about at least one Canadian woman, but they really do lock doors and don't walk into other's homes.  Even out in suburbia.

Answer 8

d**n i thought i was coming here to agree canda women are hotter.. ps any canadian women want to live in australia pm me lol

Answer 9

can you literally step into someones else and all you would get is a "hi"?

I think this one needs a lot of salt added! You walk into my home and you will get kicked out if I don't know you or the police will haul you away. If I do know you, your manners are  such that you would respect my privacy and knock and wait for an answer. What you won't get (I do not want to say never but very, very seldom) is shot at. Canada has pretty strict gun laws and we do not go around shooting people first and asking questions after. That, undoubtedly has something to do with why the crime figures in some areas like murder and manslaughter are down. Drug crimes are all over the place and since so many addicts steal to support their habit, most people do lock their doors. We are pleasant, polite people but we are not as a rule stupid.

Answer 10

Compared to the US, Canada has a low crime rate but that doesnt mean that there is NO crime.

I think if someone walked into my house, I wouldn't say hi to them, i'd ask them what the h**l they were doing in my house. The crime rate hasn't increased much in the last 10 years however, I think that will change due to Immigration. Where I live (Alberta) the population has increased significantly so that means more crime but I am sure that in places such as PEI, the crime rate still remains quite low.

You also have to remember the difference between "crime rate" (reported crimes) and the number of crimes that go unrepported. Just because we have a low rate of REPORTED crime doesn't account for all the crimes that go unrepported to the police.

Answer 11

You're kidding right? You don't really believe that do you? This is not the 1930s

If someone walks into my house they are gonna get something thrown at them, the cops are gonna be called and maybe after that an ambulance. No one just walks into someone's house that they do not know.

When I get home I lock my doors, I don't answer my door bell unless I am expecting someone.

My friends know they cannot just drop by unless they call first, if they do chances are no one will answer the door.

Crime is not as prevalent as in the US but we do have murders, robberies, home invasions too.

Answer 12

Yes, its true that the crime rate is low (lower than in the states, but not sooo low, like you seem to think)

it really depends. if you step into someones house for a good reason they will let you in, but otherwise they might just be like wtf are you doing in my house?

Answer 13

In the Montreal suburbs, we generally leave our front door locked, but our back door is open if someone is home. If we go out, the doors and windows are locked and the alarm is on.

It will currently happen on occasion that we are downstairs in the basement family room and did not hear someone knock. We only knew they were there if they yelled down to us. Of course, that happens rarely and only with neighbours or family members.

If a stranger would open our door and come in the house, we would most likely get very upset at them and ask them what the h**l they were doing. If they did not have a good excuse, one of us would be on the phone to the cops while the other would get the baseball bat or the golf club from the hall closet.

Like someone else said, it is unlikely that someone trespassing would get shot up here, but we certainly won't politely say "Hi, excuse me, but can I help you?". My home is not Walmart!

Montreal has also had a series of home invasions that happened over the last 12-18 months, where people barge in when you open the door, then they steal your stuff and take off in your car. I've heard that happen at least seven times so far and the police think it is the work of the same people, or a gang. Because of that, Quebecers have been becoming much more cautious about their habits, such as making sure doors are locked.

Answer 14

it is lower than in USA but it's high enough.. not so many murders but theft and burglaries.. and in big towns it's not too bad with murder we don't have a lot of that but other crimes  pretty much the same as in USA just least really vicious crime...x*x