The 7th annual Police Service Benchmarks Study, conducted by Advanis in May and June of this year, surveyed 30,016 Canadians about their local police services and perceptions of public safety. The study reveals a positive turnaround in Canadian public opinion regarding their local police services after a drop in 2025, though demographic and regional differences persist.
Two-thirds (62%) of Canadians feel that the police service in their jurisdiction does a good or excellent job, rebounding to levels seen in 2023/2024 after a drop in 2025 (59%).
Regional differences: Same as in previous year, police services in Quebec outperformed those in other parts of the country, with 72% of Quebec residents rating their service as good or excellent, compared to 56-61% in other regions.
Demographic differences: Support for police services varies significantly across several demographics.
More likely to rate performance as good/excellent: Canadians aged 55 and older (70%) and immigrants (69%).
Less likely to rate performance as good/excellent: Those aged 18 to 34 (54%) and Indigenous Canadians (48%).
A strong majority of Canadians support the police (73%-87%) and hold generally positive opinions about police behaviours (64%-70%). On the other hand, equity remains the area of greatest concern: only about half of Canadians (52%) agree or strongly agree that the police provide the same quality of service to all citizens.
A strong majority of Canadians support the police (73%-87%) and hold generally positive opinions about police behaviours (64%-70%). Additionally, 60% agree that police are dealing with the things that matter to people in their community.
Several key metrics measuring the quality of service saw improvements this year, returning to ratings observed in 2023/2024:
Response Time: Agreement that the police respond quickly increased from 62% last year to 65%.
Resolution of Violent Crimes: Belief that violent crimes are resolved improved slightly, from 61% to 62%.
On the other hand, equity remains the area of greatest concern: only about half of Canadians (52%) agree or strongly agree that the police provide the same quality of service to all citizens.
On the subject of police overreach, public opinion continues to improve: perceptions that the police service in their jurisdiction never or rarely exceeds its authority has increased from its low of 49% in 2022 to 61% this year. That said, this perception is highly fractured across age and ethnic groups:
Groups who are less likely to feel that the police never or rarely exceed their authority include those aged 18 to 34 (50%) and Indigenous Canadians (43%).
Those aged 55 and older are more likely to feel that the police never or rarely exceed their authority (69%).
As well, Quebec residents are substantially more likely (72%) to feel that police rarely or never exceed their authority, compared to 53-61% in other regions.
After steadily increasing since the inception of this study, perceptions of the amount of crime decreased slightly this year: 63% of Canadians think crime has increased in their community in the past five years (compared to 65% last year and on par with levels observed in 2023/2024).
While perceptions of the amount of crime decreased substantially for the Atlantic provinces (from 72% last year to 64% in 2026) and Quebec (from 57% to 52%, which is substantially lower than all other parts of the country), those same perceptions increased among British Columbians (from 60% last year to 65% in 2026).
Feelings of personal safety remain unchanged compared to last year:
77% of Canadians feel safe when walking alone after dark (on par with 76% in 2025).
Indigenous Canadians and women are substantially less likely to feel safe when walking alone in their community after dark (65% and 71% respectively). Consequently, feelings of safety are especially low among Indigenous women: only 60% feel safe when walking alone in their community after dark.
The percentage of Canadians who worry about crime most of the time or always has remained stable as well (at 21%).
Quebec residents are more likely to never or rarely worry about crime (46% vs 35-41% in other regions).
After four years of gradual increases, victimization rates have improved slightly: 31% of Canadians indicated that someone in their household has been a victim of personal, property, and/or financial crime in the past 12 months, down from 33% last year. The rates at which Canadians report crimes remained stable compared to last year:
Personal Crimes: 72% are reported.
Property Crimes: 64% are reported.
Financial Crimes: 47% are reported.
Access the full national report, including trending since 2020, here.
Questions in section #1 designed by Public Safety Canada and Halifax Regional Police per: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2019-s003/index-en.aspx .
Questions in section #2 designed by Advanis.
Random samples of Canadians aged 18+: 30,016 surveyed from May-June 2026; 25,399 surveyed from May-June 2025 (January for Saskatoon Police Service); 20,162 surveyed from May-June 2024 (September/October for London Police Service); 20,176 from May-June 2023; 21,682 from May-June 2022; 19,461 from May-July 2021; and 17,604 from February-April 2020. Please see footnotes for details.