Retail theft and rising crime were the focus during budget talks at Halifax City Hall Wednesday morning as businesses and retail advocacy groups shared their concerns about the growing problem across the municipality. The businesses were united in their call for council to approve the police budget to include more officers for dedicated foot patrol. “Our big ask for the downtown and the Spring Garden area is to have a community policing office,” said Sue Uteck, executive director with the Spring Garden Area Business Association. “We have to go back to foot patrol. I know community-based policing might be done in a car nowadays, but we actually need boots on the ground.” “Retail crime has been escalating since COVID but it’s not just crime,” said Karla Nicholson, general manager of the Quinpool Road Mainstreet District Association. “It’s open drug use and drug dealing.” The retailers said sophisticated, organized retail theft is targeting certain products and businesses, and the problem is getting worse. Norman Oliver, general manger of the Canadian Tire in Bayers Lake, says there’s increased concern for staff and customers. “There’s threats of violence that come with the thefts. It’s not just the product, it’s a public safety issue,” said Oliver. More retailers are spending additional money on security to protect themselves and their bottom-line, which is why they are asking for a greater police presence in the business districts. “Overall crime rates might be going down but retail crime rates are going up,” said Jim Cormier, Atlantic director with the Retail Council of Canada. Cormier says there’s evidence crime rings are preying on vulnerable individuals to do the stealing and it’s leading to an expanded black market. “What about the drug-addicted individual or homeless or unhoused individual in Halifax that’s being used and recruited by these crime rings to do their dirty work? That’s something that the community at large needs to respond to,” said Cormier. “If you are constantly dealing with retail theft, big retailers in particular might put more of their services online. That impacts the tax base and that impacts neighbourhoods.” Halifax Regional Police is proposing a $103-million operating budget for 2026/27, which represents a 2.2 per cent increase over last year’s budget. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
