Retailers, workers in northeastern Ontario deal with more theft in their stores

Every day, Richard Eberhardt says he hears about a new "remarkable" story about shoplifting in grocery stores across northeastern Ontario.

Eberhardt is a union representative with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union Local 175, which represents workers at major grocery chains – including Metro, Food Basics, and several Loblaws stores such as No Frills and Your Independent Grocer.

"Cartloads full of groceries that are just walking out the door," Eberhardt said. "That is a common story."

A less common story, said Eberhardt, is when that theft is followed by property crime, or even assault against retail employees.

"For example, a member had their windshield shattered in the middle of the day in a grocery store here in northeastern Ontario, and their belongings, their valuables, were stolen from the car by someone who had just left the store with a cart full of groceries that they had stolen," he said.

While Eberhardt said the union does not have statistics on crime in retail, it does appear that theft, property damage and violence are on the rise, and those incidents are more "open and brazen."

From Jan. 1 to Oct.. 11, 2023, the Greater Sudbury Police Service said it received 755 reports of shoplifting.

That represents a 33 per cent increase from the same period in 2022. But police spokesperson Kaitlyn Dunn noted lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in less crime overall in retail establishments.

During the same time period in 2019, though, the Greater Sudbury Police Service received 621 reports of shoplifting.

Sonny Spina, a security expert and former police officer based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., said the shoplifting cases reported to police are just the tip of the iceberg.

"Oftentimes, unfortunately, clients are finding empty packages or just going back and doing inventory and finding that things are missing, and they have no real data to report to the police for those things," said Spina who is a partner with Anderson Blake Security Services.

"So I believe that it is severely underreported. Especially in our region here."

Spina said it's difficult to say why there appears to be more crime in retail, but he believes that more theft, at least, is due in part to rising prices and inflation.

"I believe that it is sometimes forcing individuals to make choices… to steal things for themselves to help preserve their own lives or to, you know, potentially feed their families," he said.

But Spina said there is also a more organized criminal element that has driven theft in retail.

Statistics not retail specific

Rui Rodrigues is the executive advisor for loss prevention and risk management with the Retail Council of Canada, which represents thousands of retailers of all sizes across the country.

Rodrigues said some members have reported a 300 per cent increase in shoplifting since the pandemic. But he said it's difficult to paint a clear picture of the situation for the entire industry.

"Even when Stats Canada puts out their data, it's not retail specific," he said.

"So if we talk about theft under or theft over, it's any theft. It's not specific to retail."

Rodrigues said the Retail Council of Canada is working with government partners to gather data on crime more specific to the industry.

The council is also working more closely with police services and the justice system to have more enforcement for crime in retail – especially violent crime – and to hold those responsible in court.

What we have seen is in our repeat prolific criminals because they come back to those retail locations and they will say to those folks, 'You can't touch me, you can't do anything.'- Rui Rodrigues, Retail Council of Canada

Rodrigues said he believes inadequate police resources and a backed-up court system – due to the pandemic – have contributed to more crime in retail. 

He said people are charged with crimes like theft, but then released on bail because the courts have higher priority cases to deal with.

"What we have seen is in our repeat prolific criminals because they come back to those retail locations and they will say to those folks, 'You can't touch me, you can't do anything.'"

To help curb crime in stores, the Retail Council of Canada says it's working with police services across the country to have blitzes around the holiday season.

CBC News reached out to the owners of several retail establishments for this story, but none wanted to speak on the record.

Some said theft is a growing problem, but they didn't want to be singled out in a news story, and potentially drive away customers.