Results of the 2024 Impacts Survey show crime, financial losses, and the effectiveness of response services in addressing these issues as the major issues facing Kamloops area businesses.

The three Business Improvement Associations and the Kamloops and District Chamber of Commerce had 201 businesses respond. North Shore BIA Executive Director Jeremy Heighton says our local businesses are the backbone of the Kamloops economy, and they need real solutions to the crime and social disruption that threaten their livelihoods.

“I mean, the costs continue to be high. The, you know, negative impacts on from a perception of safety continue to be high. It’s really a it’s a challenge we’re seeing across the province. I mean, we hopped on the back end of the SOS release earlier this week, I had a provincial board meeting today. I mean, the criminality, the cost related to criminality, is egregious in the province, and there is a catch and release system in play, whether you like that term or not. It’s true.”

Heighton says if you look at the first four years of the survey, businesses were asked for their losses between 2018 and 2022 and they were, high. “If I remember correctly, last year, losses were around $800,000. There was $1.5 million in losses this year. But there was a couple of big projects that were incorporated now this year where, you know, almost $2 million in losses. Now 50% of those related to crime and 50% of those are related to prevention costs, but it’s still $2 million out of 200 respondents in a community where they have told us, 66% have been victim of crime, vandalism or social disruption and not reported it in the last year.”

“So not only do we look at crime stats, which show that we have this escalating property crime issue, two thirds of the people who responded to our service said they’re not even reporting so it is a situation which is largely out of control in this province, and we need the province to step up and make the adjustments that are necessary.”

Could this impact the business community in terms of attracting and retaining businesses? “We’re hearing that a number of the comments, anecdotal comments in the back, really talk to that. Some people are talking about packing up their business, moving back to the States. I regret ever coming here. And it’s interesting because this year, when we asked them what their top 10 issues was, we actually put a new category, and it’s called fear and stress, which ended up at number five on the top 10 issues for respondents this year.”

“So the fear and the stress and the lack and stroll over safety issues are impacting their psychological health, in addition to their bottom lines. And this is why we need the involuntary care triggers this is why we need integrated access. This is why we need a system at the street level to help us get folks into care, get them off of our street corners and out of our buildings vestibules. We need the support of the province to move forward.”

Key Findings from the 2024 Impacts Survey:
– Increased Business Participation: 201 businesses participated in the survey, with the highest responses from areas experiencing elevated crime rates, including Downtown and North Kamloops. Businesses from a wide range of sectors, including Retail, Health Services, Professional Services, Restaurants, and Arts & Culture, were represented.- Rising Crime and Its Impacts: For the third consecutive year, crime and social disruption have severely impacted consumer confidence and business operations. The top reported issues year over year including littering, open drug use, vandalism, and public defecation, remained unchanged. A new category-Fear/Stress-emerged as a top concern, ranking fifth in its impact on business owners and staff.
– Financial Losses Skyrocket: Businesses reported nearly $1 million in financial losses due to crime in 2024, up from $752,000 in 2023.
– Business Response and Prevention Costs: Despite a slight reduction in operational changes compared to previous years, 71% of businesses reported implementing new security measures in 2024. Total spending on crime prevention strategies reached $946,360.
– Concerns Over Response Services: Business owners expressed continued dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of response agencies, citing legal limitations and slow response times as major barriers. Questionable prosecution (65%), lack of issue resolution (59%), and delayed responses (51%) were identified as the top reasons for dissatisfaction.

A Call for Immediate Government Action:
1. A four-pillar approach to healthcare,
2. Mental health reforms at all levels of government,
3. Criminal justice reforms, including changes to bail provisions.

Detailed results can be found here