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SMALL BUSINESS MONTH - SUPPLEMENT TO THE FREE PRESS - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2026
Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE SUDOMA
BREAK-INS CAN HAVE BIG CONSEQUENCES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
or its only $5,000.’ It’s not. It’s a crime, it has a cost and it’s costing companies their livelihoods and people their jobs.” Remillard says the province’s Business Security Rebate Program, which provides up to $2,500 for eligible security upgrades such as cameras and alarms was a good first step in addressing the issue. However, he says government at all levels needs to do more to help businesses that are struggling to protect themselves against break- ins and other crimes or risk serious consequences. “If government … doesn’t rise to the occasion of working with business, those businesses will shutter their doors and move to lo - cations that are believed to be at lower risk of criminal behaviour. If that happens, you start creating entire neighbourhoods where it’s like a desert of businesses (unable) to provide goods and services for those hard-hit communities,” he adds. While it’s virtually impossible to prevent break-ins, the co-own - er of a local security company says there are some simple steps small business owners can take to reduce the chances of it hap - pening to them. James Waldner of Winnipeg-based 494 Security Services says one of the first things they should do is ensure they have appropriate after-hours lighting, both inside and outside their business. “Thieves don’t like light. They don’t like to be seen. They don’t like it to be known that they’re on the property,” says Waldner, whose company provides security staffing and offers security risk assessments to businesses. “If you light up your area very well, it definitely does deter thieves and it looks like somebody’s there. It looks like somebody’s taking care of it.”
BY JIM TIMLICK
It’s hardly a surprise that many small business owners say crime is one of the biggest challenges facing them these days. A recent study conducted on behalf of the Canadian Feder - ation of Independent Business (CFIB) showed that 54 per cent of small business owners surveyed in Manitoba were impacted by crime and safety issues in the previous year, with break-ins being listed as one of their top concerns. Consider two recent examples. In September, thieves hid inside a Winnipeg flea market until it closed and later made off with rough - ly $70,000 worth of trading cards and related merchandise. Two weeks earlier, the owner of a local collectibles shop was robbed of $6,000 worth of similar items. Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Cham - ber of Commerce, say robberies like those are eating into the already razor-thin profits and threatening the future of many small businesses. “We need to stop treating retail theft as a victimless crime,” says Remillard, whose organization represents hundreds of small businesses. “Far too often its being handled that way by enforcement agen - cies, by the courts, by public opinion. ‘Oh, it’s just a chocolate bar
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