Choosing a Borough in Montréal

How safe is Montréal, really

The citywide rate of 24.1 criminal acts relative to the number of dwellings covers 22,621 located incidents over the latest full year of data, compared with 23,535 the year before — a change of -3.9%. That single figure, though, blends very different realities. Outremont records the lowest crime rate among Montréal's boroughs, while Ville-Marie records the highest.

A citywide average is a starting point, not a verdict on any one street. Anyone comparing boroughs should look at the borough-level rate directly rather than assume the city figure applies evenly everywhere. A share of incidents, 15.2%, is published without a specific location and isn't attributed to any borough.

Break-ins alone run at 5.8 relative to the number of dwellings across the city, a separate measure from the overall criminal acts rate and worth checking on each borough's own page.

The housing stock, borough by borough

Montréal counts 940,267 dwellings on the assessment roll, spread across boroughs that range from dense, central districts to quieter suburban and waterfront settings. Some boroughs pack most of their housing into apartment buildings near the core; others are built around single-family streets further from downtown, or along the water with a mix of both.

Regional rent data for the Montréal census metropolitan area gives a sense of scale rather than a borough-specific price: bachelor units averaged $1,005 in 2025, smaller units $1,131, family-sized units $1,346, and the largest units $1,625. None of these figures belong to a single borough — use them as a regional reference point before checking what a given borough's own page says about its housing mix.

The comparison table on this page is built to shortlist from these differences: start from the kind of housing stock you want, then check how each candidate borough scores on safety and green space before narrowing further.

Parks and green space across the city

The City's own inventory lists 1,511 parks and large parks across Montréal, along with 1,008 children's playgrounds. L'Île-Bizard-Sainte-Geneviève comes out as the greenest borough once park space is measured relative to the number of dwellings rather than by raw area.

Citywide, parkland covers 10.1% of the land base and works out to 46,596.0 of park space relative to the number of dwellings — but this hides sharp contrasts. A borough can have plentiful raw park acreage and still rank low once its housing density is factored in, or the reverse.

Using this site to choose a borough

The most useful comparison crosses safety, green space and housing against what you can actually afford and how far you're willing to commute. A borough with a favourable crime rate and ample park space relative to its dwelling count may still not fit if its housing stock doesn't match what you're looking for, or if its location sits far from where you need to be.

Every borough covered here has its own detailed page, with letter grades set relative to the rest of Montréal rather than in isolation — so a grade tells you how a borough stacks up against its peers, not just against some fixed standard. Start from the citywide figures on this page, then work through individual borough pages to compare the ones that match your budget and priorities.