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According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, more than half of Manitoba businesses that participated in a recent survey said they had been affected by community safety issues in the past year.
The findings come from a report released this week by the business interest group.
According to the report, you were asked, “Has your business been recently affected by community safety issues?” 52 per cent of Manitoba businesses said yes.
According to the CFIB, that compares with 41 percent in a similar report last year.
The national figures for 2024 are based on a CFIB crime and community safety survey conducted from July 25 to September 6, with 1,666 respondents, the report said. There was no indication of how many were surveyed in Manitoba or how the survey was conducted.
Across Canada, almost half (45 per cent) of small businesses report being directly affected by crime and community safety issues, up from 24 per cent in the 2023 CFIB survey.
In Manitoba, the survey found the most commonly cited problems by respondents were theft and shoplifting, followed by vandalism/burglaries and trash/litter, the CFIB said in an email.
It also found that just under half of Manitoba business owners said they consistently report crimes to police, but a majority of businesses said they don’t believe it would make a significant difference.
Brianna Solberg, CFIB director for the Prairies and the North, said the impact of community safety issues on business owners goes beyond their bottom line.
“It has serious consequences for their mental health and wellbeing,” she says.
Some businesses have had to lock their doors during the day, which ultimately hurts their finances, she said.
“It’s those businesses that want to serve the community, but right now they lack trust in the community and the people who come into their business.”
‘You feel helpless’
Evan Fogg of Luxe Barbeque Company says his company has experienced at least four burglaries in the past year alone. In one case, someone drove a stolen truck through a garage door to break into one of their locations, he said.
“You feel frustrated and sometimes you feel helpless,” he said.
The company has added more security cameras and updated some of them to get better images, Fogg said.
But “I think sometimes there’s only so much you can do without hiring someone to be there full-time,” he said.
Seyed Mahmoud, owner of the Ellice Avenue Deli Store in Winnipeg’s West End, said he tries to build relationships with customers at his supermarket to deter crime. But he said his family is concerned for his safety after he had to fight people who tried to steal from his store in Winnipeg’s West End.
He said he wants the government to do a better job helping people facing poverty and other challenges.
“When the economy is down, people have to survive,” he said, adding that he thinks many people who shoplift do so because they have no other choice.
The CFIB’s Solberg said her organization wants governments to work together to tackle the problem and take a multi-pronged approach, including bail reform, tougher sentences for repeat offenders and better help for people dealing with addictions and mental health problems.
She would also like to see better maintenance of public areas so that people feel safer in the community “and that they are properly supervised so that they are actually safe, not just feeling safe,” said them.
The Manitoba government announced an initiative Thursday that will extend overtime for Winnipeg police officers who patrol shoplifting hotspots in the city through the holidays.
Fifty-two per cent of Manitoba businesses that responded to a new survey from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business say they have been the victim of a crime this year. That is 11 percent more than a similar study from 2023.
