Vancouver retailers applaud anti-theft task force amid ‘egregious’ shoplifting spike

VANCOUVER — When security staff at Vancouver’s Gourmet Warehouse store caught a shoplifter in November and asked him to replace the stolen items, the incident didn’t stop there, said owner Caren McSherry.

Instead, she said the man took out a “big stick” and swiped it along the shelf, sending about $2,000 worth of Le Creuset roasting pans to smash on the floor.

“What do you do? You can’t call insurance. You just have to suck it up,” said McSherry. “But when this happens over and over and over and over and over again, it’s sad.”

McSherry and other retailers are welcoming a new task force being created by the City of Vancouver to tackle a spike in retail theft that it says is led by organized crime and repeat offenders.

Vancouver council on Wednesday passed a motion creating the retail security task force aimed at curbing the thefts and improving safety for businesses and employees.

Vancouver Police say there were almost 7,700 shoplifting incidents in the city last year, up 12 per cent compared to 2023, while shoplifting in the downtown core was up 40 per cent.

Mayor Ken Sim said in a statement that retail theft hurt communities across the city, and the task force was aimed at tackling the situation.

The task force will bring together Vancouver police, business improvement associations, retailers, legal experts, social service providers and the provincial government to look at the root causes of the thefts.

The city said the group will study effective models elsewhere over the next six months and deliver a report to council with recommendations.

“This isn’t just about stolen goods. It’s about protecting workers, standing up for local businesses, and making sure the people who keep our neighbourhoods thriving feel safe and supported,” Sim said in Thursday’s statement.

London Drugs’ general manager of loss prevention said the store’s Woodward’s location in the city’s Downtown Eastside had experienced “large-scale thefts.”

Tony Hunt said the store performed “significantly worse” than other London Drugs outlets across the country due to the “very challenged neighbourhood,” leaving the company concerned about staff safety.

He said any efforts to ensure safety and help retail businesses survive are welcome, amid a “tsunami of crime.”

“And we encourage all other levels of government, provincial and federal, to get on board and assist with this type of effort to understand and address the root cause of this incessant crime,” said Hunt.

Vancouver Coun. Brian Montague, who put forward the motion to create the task force, told the council on Wednesday that retail theft in Vancouver continued to rise.

He said words like “theft” or “shoplifting” did not capture the situation because they implied a “secretly concealed” item and someone “quietly” walking out without paying.

“But what we’re actually seeing is … workers and businesses who are being threatened and attacked. We have stores in Vancouver that are providing training to their employees on how to use body cameras,” said Montague.

“We’ve got to a point where retail theft has escalated to that level.”

Montague said on Thursday that Sim had been calling on the federal government for a long time to deal with violent repeat offenders and bail reform.

“I expect that will be part of what the task force will be looking at as well. We need the federal government to play a role here. We need the provincial government to play a role,” said Montague.

McSherry said that anything to “curb the nightmare” of retail theft was appreciated.

But she said the task force could have been launched sooner.

“Is it too late? Absolutely, the horses are out of the barn, and now we’re trying to shove them all back in,” said McSherry, “I don’t know how and why, our current government or past government, whoever, could let this crime get so out of hand and so egregious that it penalizes all businesses.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2025.

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press