City of Winnipeg requiring electrical permits for security camera installations catching businesses off guard

A Winnipeg business owner is speaking out after being fined for installing a security camera at his business without a permit. CTV’s Joseph Bernacki reports.

Four years after he installed security cameras at his Kirkfield Street Voyage Funeral Home location, general manager Michael Vogiatzakis was slapped with a ticket he did not see coming.

“How do they pass a bylaw that nobody knows about?” Vogiatzakis said.

Under a bulletin published in 2024, a City of Winnipeg bylaw requires businesses to have electrical permits for installations of alarm systems and closed-circuit television cameras.

However, single-family detached homes are exempt. Vogiatzakis wonders why businesses are not also exempt from the bylaw.

“It’s a plug-and-play system,” Vogiatzakis said.

“It’s no different than plugging your stereo into a wall. You plug in your speakers, you plug this area into the wall. It’s low voltage and you know, it comes in a box. How is that a construction project?”

Voyage Funeral Home is not the only business asking questions.

Don Woodstock, owner of JamRock Security, said he has received a number of concerned calls over the past year from clients who also did not know they needed a permit.

“The news came to us because my electrical contractor informed me,” Woodstock said.

“Then I got inundated with calls after the fact and (they) say, ‘you know, what’s this about?’”

Woodstock said the city needs to do a better job of getting the word out about these regulations.

“If you walk down the street now and look up and you see a camera, walk in there and ask a business owner if they know of this exists and they tell, you know, 99 per cent of them would say, ‘no,’ this is news to them,” Woodstock said.

In a statement to CTV News, a City of Winnipeg spokesperson indicated these rules have been in place for some time.

“The information bulletin released on June 27, 2024, simply replaced the previous bulletin. No new requirements were published,” according to the city.

For Vogiatzakis, the fine is another challenge he is faced with while running a small business.

“Why are they trying to put small businesses out of business?” Vogiatzakis said.

“We should be working together as a team and making the city a vibrant city.”