Be Safe in Montreal

From a visitor perspective, Montreal is a safe city to visit, and those planning a holiday here have very little to worry about with regards to health and safety issues. Arranging travel insurance ahead of your trip can give you some peace of mind that should you experience any unfortunate incident that requires expense on your part, you will at least be reimbursed.

Safety

Montreal is not known for high levels of crime, violent or otherwise, and generally, visitors will find the city’s atmosphere entirely non-threatening and comfortable for going about usual tourist activities, both by day and at night. Like all big cities however, it has areas that are less savoury than others, and visitors are wise to stay away from these parts at night.

Among those areas prone to trouble are St Catherine Street between Atwater and Guy, especially Cabot Square; east of St Laurent Street, particularly near the gay village and Papineau St; Parc Extension and lower Côte des Neiges areas, especially around Victoria Street.

Avoid the attentions of pickpockets and other chancers by keeping cash and valuables in difficult to reach places and by only carrying with you what is necessary for your day’s expenses.

Police: 911

Health

Montreal is a highly modern, developed city, which presents very little in the way of threats to the health of either residents or visitors. Risks from transmittable diseases are exceedingly low through regular non-sexual contact and water-borne diseases are non-existent (excepting from obviously polluted sources).

Perhaps the biggest threat to health is the extreme temperatures that the city experiences during the winter season; many visitors from warmer climates may under-compensate with outdoor clothing and find themselves experiencing the negative effects of overexposure, resulting in a nasty cold, chilblains or worse.

Standards of healthcare in hospitals are extremely high, and visitors are strongly recommended to take out travel insurance prior to their trip to cover any unforeseen events.