A Canadian police officer shared the shocking reason why people should not ignore strangers knocking at their doors.

Officer Arsenault took to TikTok to offer advice on how to avoid becoming a target of daytime breaking and entering.

‘If somebody comes to your home during the day and knocks on the door or rings the door bell and you don’t answer because you don’t want to be bothered, don’t do that, okay?’ Arsenault said.

‘Two minutes later, they kick in your doors, it’s daytime break and enter. It happens all the time.’

He went on to explain that instead of pretending they are not home, people should yell through their doors, wave the stranger away or act like they are on the phone.

Arsenault added: ‘If they get inside your house, they panic, not expecting anybody to be there, bad things can happen.

‘Be safe out there.’

Nearly 2,000 commenters flooded the video with reactions, with many saying they are grateful for the advice because they would typically do the opposite.

‘Great advice thanks, makes sense. I always do the opposite and tell my partner to do the same… I’ll change this with your explanation,’ one user wrote.

Another person added: ‘I usually don’t answer because I have anxiety .. now I have anxiety if I don’t answer someone will come in.’

Some viewers shared their own experiences with people trying to break into their homes.

‘That happened to me and when they tried to break in, I yelled a man’s name pretending I was not alone. They left,’ one user wrote.

Others seemed skeptical of the advice.

One critic said: ‘If they want in bad enough, they’re coming in regardless of if I open the door or not’.

Arsenault’s page is filled with safety advice he shares with his more than 922,000 followers on TikTok.

He also posts about his everyday experiences as a police officer.

The video about how to react to unexpected door knocks was posted on Wednesday, but was dated November 27, 2019.

Other security experts, including those at Ackerman Security, have shared similar advice.

According to their website, people inside their homes should do four things when confronted with an unwanted guest at their door.

The first course of action Ackerman suggested was to ‘perform a lock check’, which simply means making sure a door is locked.

As the critical commenter on Arsenault’s post said, people may want to break into a home whether or not someone is inside.

The security company also encouraged people to look through their peephole or at a camera to see who is outside of their home.

Ackerman echoed Arsenault’s sentiment about letting potential intruders know someone is inside the house.

‘You’re not obligated to open your door,’ the website reads. ‘Simply reply to whoever is at your front door by asking, “Who is it?”‘

‘Again, don’t let your guard down here. Many burglars and scammers will pretend like they’re in danger or need help in order to get you to open your door.’

People should ultimately call the police if they feel like they are in danger, according to Ackerman.