OTTAWA – A new poll suggests the capital is seen as Canada’s safest city.

The survey was done by Mainstreet for Postmedia. Of the people surveyed, 72 per cent described Ottawa as “safe” or “very safe.” That’s compared to just 16 per cent who perceive it as unsafe.

Charlottetown, Moncton, St John’s and Quebec City rounded out the top five among the perceived safest cities.

Winnipeg was considered the least-safe city among survey respondents. Among the cities besides Winnipeg considered unsafe: Toronto, Montreal, Saskatoon and Edmonton.

Data recently released by Statistics Canada shows Saskatoon has the highest crime rate in the country.

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While Canadians may think of Ottawa as the nation’s safest city, Ottawans may not feel that way in the wake of a Sunday that saw four shootings, including a murder.

“I can appreciate the concerns the community may have,” said Chief Charles Bordeleau, Ottawa Police, while speaking to reporters on Monday. “These are targetted shootings; they involve criminal activity, involve gang members.”

Bordeleau says other major centres are also seeing Ottawa’s trend of increased shootings, but insists Ottawa is a safe city.