I've personally noticed crime here more than i did in the UK.

I've had 2 ipods stolen, there have been a couple of murders just down the road, every day i see (and smell) drug use, and you should see some of the clothes people wear

I didn't have anything like that when living in the UK.

That said, i feel no different with regards to safety in both places, and perception is all that matters.

Which area is this if you don't mind me asking?

A nice area of Vancouver

Where I live there are some "downtown core" areas I wouldn't walk around at night, other's I would feel totally safe to do so.

http://spotcrime.com/on/hamilton (This is for a 2 month time period)

I suspect that might depend on one's choice of paper, as it does in the UK.

The letters page (and comments page of the website) for the local paper has a few comments by the hang'em flog'em, "this once great country" brigade but the newspaper itself is very much positive.

It's worth seeking out the websites for newspapers in potential target areas and looking at what's reported.

We've had three crime waves since we've been here.

One was washer/dryer machines in the laundry rooms in apartment buildings being broken into for the coins; another involved car drivers filling gas and driving off without paying and the latest one has seen sex toys and underwear disappearing from homes in a small community out of town.

Oh dear!
So you advise keeping sex toys and kinky underwear under lock and key, then?
Or maybe just handcuffing it to the S&M gear in the dungeon is the safest thing?....

And your wife isn't suspicious of your special chest of drawers with "Mrs Smith @ No 62", "Miss Jones @ No 116" etc written on each one?

In the UK it was my experience that living in a "nice area" was the worst thing to do from a risk or burglary point of view because the scumbags from further up the railway line/ road would travel to go on burglary sprees and then trot back home to sell their ill-gotten gains.

They would then return once they were sure the insurance had paid out and do it all over again...

Luckily, the village I lived in in the UK was so small, everyone knew everyone else, lots of old people home all day and the neighbours in general so nosey/caring (depending on your attitude!) it was hard to burgle anyone without being spotted, so we had very little crime at all.

The only other bad place I have experienced to live is in a student area where they have shared houses - burglars can usually count on multiple televisions, computers, i-pods, stereos, laptops, phones and other pinchable stuff all under one roof so they get targeted regularly.

So far I haven't experienced crime in Canada as far a it affecting me goes.
I smell pot very frequently and strongly in the street and at events here (Foo Fighters at Rogers Arena was absolutely drenched in it) and also when cars pass by, which I find a bit of a worry.

I do notice, however that many restaurants here have a designated driver discount and will give the DD free soft drinks and even in some cases a free meal which I didn't see anywhere near as much in the UK.
Lots of companies at this time of year also offer shared rides and taxi services at discounted rates or even free from their work Christmas parties, which I have never experienced in the UK.

Maybe the acceptance of DUI is changing here as it did in the UK.

There is none. Its rural. Very little anyway. Just the occasional serial killer base comander, but hes pretty much the exception to the rule. He collected underwear too to start with...

Cross reference this with the paper house thread. Every now and then there will be an incident where a gun is fired - the bullet might pass through 3 or 4 houses. I'd never heard of that happening in the UK.

I'd like to see a bullet go through one wall of any of the houses I have lived in in the UK, never mid 4 houses worth.

Come to think of it, I have lived in UK houses where the Anaglypta wallpaper and accumulated layers of paint was practically armour plating on its own

But then they do not really build houses here that sturdily, do they?
Wood frame, SIPs, some flimsy planking on the outside and a lick of paint inside and that is about it.
I see them going up in Langley and Surrey and think they look like doll's houses.

Ive seen them go up in the UK like that too... just fewer people with guns in the UK is my guess...

Most new houses everywhere (UK included) are wooden framed.

Still, I told my neighbours that we don't have to replace roofs in the UK, just the odd tile every now and then. They were all impressed and complained about how people in Canada are always being ripped off etc etc

Did you point out too that the weather in the UK is somewhat less extreme too Yes, even in BC.

The weather has nothing to do with it. Tile is more durable than shingle in any weather - and even if it's the same or worse, you don't need to replace the whole roof when one falls off.