Over half of B.C. businesses say crime is worsening and are worried about safety
More than half of small businesses in the province reported that crime is worsening in their communities, according to a survey from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
In a release, the organization said that 80 per cent of respondents said that “governments are not working well together to address public safety challenges” and many business owners have stopped reporting crime, because they don’t expect “a timely response or meaningful follow-up.”
CFIB, an association of small and medium-sized businesses with 100,000 members across the country, surveyed 332 CFIB members in B.C. between Oct. 9 and 24, 2025.
“When businesses tell us they no longer call the police or file reports, that’s a serious warning sign,” said Ryan Mitton, CFIB’s director of legislative affairs for B.C.
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“We are hearing that confidence in the system is breaking down. Crime is not only becoming more common for small businesses, but increasingly something they feel forced to manage on their own,” he added.
This is particularly prevalent in downtown cores and commercial corridors, where many businesses report that crime has become part of their daily operations, with repeated theft and vandalism, concerns about staff being harassed or threatened while at work or closing, and spending more money on security measures.
Moreover, 85 per cent reported that they don’t see their taxes resulting in community safety improvements. And 60 per cent of owners said they’re worried about the safety of their staff, customers, and themselves.
Mitton said that programs like the Community Safety and Targeted Enforcement (C-STEP), which the province introduced in May 2025, show “early promise.” This program provides police with better tools, new technology, and investigative resources to reduce property crime.
But he called on the provincial government to “enforce the law, improve service levels and provide financial grants to businesses in need of security upgrades or vandalism repairs.”
A survey from the Business Improvement Areas of BC (BIABC) conducted in June and July 2025 showed similar concerns, with 67 per cent of its respondents believing that crime and street disorder had worsened in the past year. They attributed it to open drug use, mental health crises on the streets, growing homeless encampments, and repeated incidents of vandalism, theft, and aggression.
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A recent example of a business suffering from crime is the London Drugs at Woodward’s, which will close on Feb. 1. The store, located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Hastings Street and Abbott Street in downtown Vancouver, is shutting down due to “persistent safety incidents and significant operator losses at this site,” according to Clint Mahlman, president and chief operating officer at London Drugs.
TD Bank, another longtime tenant at Woodward’s, also closed that location in 2024 after repeated vandalism, including a series of window-smashing incidents. The City of Vancouver has since opened a community policing centre in the same space to provide crime prevention and outreach programs.
With files from Kenneth Chan and Daniel Chai