Top 10 Worst Towns in Ontario (Don't Live Here)

Summary

The video ranks 10 Ontario communities as poor choices to move to in 2026, using figures on crime, opioid deaths, employment, hospital access, housing costs, and population trends. It argues that the problems are not evenly distributed: northern communities face particularly high crime and drug-related harms, some towns depend heavily on one major employer, and rural communities struggle with emergency-department staffing.

The narrator also acknowledges that many residents value these places and that the statistics do not capture everything about living there.

1. Oshawa — Unemployment reached 8.9% in September 2026, which the video attributes partly to job cuts at General Motors’ assembly plant. However, it notes that crime is relatively low and the city’s population has grown. Its main concern is an increasingly unstable job market.

2. Brantford — Crime severity rose 8% in 2025, while the reported crime rate increased 10%. The average home sold for about $647,600 in September 2026, despite prices having fallen recently. The video presents Brantford as an expensive city where crime is worsening, though unemployment was near the national rate and the population has grown.

3. North Bay — The video cites an opioid death rate of about 31 per 100,000 in 2025, more than three times Ontario’s rate, along with a crime severity score well above the national figure. Home prices were falling, but the narrator says affordability does not offset the drug and crime concerns.

4. Kapuskasing — The town’s paper mill became inactive in September 2025, putting hundreds of direct jobs and many more indirectly dependent jobs at risk. The video describes the mill’s uncertain future as especially consequential for a small, declining community, despite government funding intended to support it.

5. Chesley — Its emergency department is open only on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., leaving it closed for much of the week. The video places this in a wider rural-health-care problem, citing repeated emergency-room closures in nearby communities and a large number of Ontario residents without a family doctor.

6. Greater Sudbury — Health Sciences North is described as frequently operating at 110–120% capacity, with patients treated in hallways or waiting rooms. The video also cites a high opioid death rate and rising homelessness, including among people over 50. It notes counterpoints: unemployment was relatively low, home prices had fallen, and crime severity edged down.

7. Sault Ste. Marie — Algoma Steel issued nearly 1,000 layoff notices as it changed its production process, a major blow to a city already losing population. Crime severity was high, while home prices—around $300,000 on average—were comparatively low. The video frames the low housing cost against employment and safety concerns.

8. Kenora — The local hospital’s emergency department reportedly went from about 20 doctors in 2022 to nine part-time doctors by 2024, raising concerns about possible closures. The video also cites Ontario’s second-highest crime-severity score and the loss of 150 sawmill jobs in the district. Kenora’s population was relatively stable, but the narrator argues that stability does not remove these risks.

9. Timmins — The video says Timmins had Ontario’s highest crime-severity score among the police areas it cites in 2025, with police reporting increases in violent and drug crime early in 2026. It also highlights a high opioid death rate, a slightly declining population, and rising regional home prices. The combination of worsening crime and increasing housing costs puts Timmins near the top of the list.

10. Thunder Bay — The video ranks Thunder Bay worst overall, citing an opioid death rate of 52.72 per 100,000 in 2025—nearly six times Ontario’s rate—along with the highest crime severity among Ontario metropolitan areas and a sharp rise in reported crime. It also reports Canada’s highest metropolitan homicide rate in 2024 and an increase in homelessness. The narrator notes important counterpoints: unemployment was low, opioid deaths had declined in the first nine months of 2025 compared with 2024, and housing remained relatively affordable.

The video’s overall conclusion is that the ranking reflects overlapping pressures rather than a single measure: northern communities face especially severe crime and opioid figures; towns dependent on one employer can be shaken by a single closure or layoff decision; and some rural areas have unreliable emergency care. It cautions that the figures are not a judgment on residents or a substitute for individual research.

Presenters and Contributors

The video has an unnamed narrator; no presenter is identified by name. It refers to comments or information from an unnamed Unifor representative, the mayor of Kapuskasing, the CEO of Health Sciences North, and a local union president. CBC and other organizations are cited as sources.