Hi, Susan Krashinsky Robertson here today, I cover Canada’s retail sector for The Globe and Mail. Today’s newsletter is about theft and how it has evolved in stores across the country. Retailers say it’s moved beyond shoplifting, as thefts in stores have gotten bigger, more organized and more likely to turn violent. More on that below, but first:
In the news
Members of NATO will be asked by the U.S. to boost defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, Donald Trump says
TD Bank’s top anti-money-laundering executive departs one year after taking on the role
Housing non-profits are expanding aid to middle-class buyers as home prices climb
On our radar
- Canada’s new housing price index for December is set to be released, along with manufacturing sales.
- In the U.S., we’re expecting to see existing home sales for December and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for January.
- Earnings include: American Express Co.; NextEra Energy Inc.; Verizon Communications Inc.
Shoppers Drug Mart theft in Thornhill, Ont.Boris Ruvet-Thebia/Supplied
In focus
More than a five-finger discount
Canadian retailers have a problem and it’s growing: Theft was a $9.1-billion issue last year, according to industry group the Retail Council of Canada.
As recently as 2018, that same group estimated the scale of retail theft at closer to $5-billion. So, incidents are proliferating. To put that in context, annual retail sales in Canada sit at more than $600-billion.
Executives say this issue is the highest level of theft they’ve ever experienced. “I have never seen anything like this in my nearly 50 years in the grocery industry,” Pattison Food Group’s long-time president, Darrell Jones, told me in an e-mail.
This is bigger than a financial issue
Yes, this represents sizable losses for Canadian businesses. But consumers and vulnerable workers are also affected. Increasingly, these thefts are tied to organized crime and involve violence that puts people at risk in stores.
Last year, roughly 45 per cent of retail thefts involved violence. And it’s not just happening in Canada: 67 per cent of U.S. retailers reported increased aggression and violence in their stores in 2023 compared with the prior year, according to the National Retail Federation.
An asset Protection Representative monitors shoppers at the security office of a Superstore in Toronto.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
You probably thought that people were just shoplifting more
Shoplifting has always been a thing, but individuals stealing the occasional item – while still a concern for businesses – are not the sort of theft raising the most alarm bells in the industry. According to business leaders and law enforcement, in many cases these are thefts at a much larger scale, including thousands or tens of thousands of dollars of merchandise at a time, and they are backed by organized crime groups.
In just one investigation in 2022, dubbed Project Kingfisher, police in Halton and other jurisdictions in Ontario traced $2-million worth of stolen products to a single organized group. Criminals are storing items in warehouses or storage facilities, and reselling them for a profit, often online.
A butter theft at Loblaws grocery store in Kitchener, Ont.Loblaws
For me, the biggest surprise while reporting this story was:
Seeing security footage of just how brazen these thefts can be was quite illuminating. I was also struck by the variety of goods that are being stolen: It’s not just high-end products such as electronics or jewellery.
The butter heists that have made headlines are a good example. Crime rings are stealing and reselling meat, power tools, baby formula, clothing, nicotine gum – whatever they can find a market for. And of course, this is only intensified by the affordability crisis we are living through.
Following the large spike in inflation in recent years, so much of what we buy is far more expensive. People are desperate for deals, and they don’t have to buy something off the back of a truck to find them. Even a deputy chief of police I spoke with described having to warn members of his family away from online deals that were too good to be true, informing them, “that’s probably hot.”
People shop at a Superstore in Toronto.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
Retailers know that they don’t necessarily have the public’s sympathy
It’s not uncommon to see posts on social media in which people encourage each other to look the other way if they see someone shoplifting. And their anger is understandable. But an increase in violence in public spaces can affect consumers and people who work in the industry, not to mention small retailers – the kind of independent businesses that many people want to support in their communities.
It’s also worth mentioning that many of those business owners know that crimes such as thefts are a societal issue and require complex solutions. In a 2023 survey of more than 2,000 business owners, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found 83 per cent agreed that provincial governments “should prioritize action on poverty reduction, affordable housing and mental health issues.”
Charted
The impact of crime on small businesses
Retailers are increasing their spending on measures to fight thefts, such as cameras. The hope is that having such devices visible will deter and decrease violence in stores. Arizona-based Axon Enterprise Inc. manufactures the cameras, and sells them mostly to police forces, but it has been seeing more demand from private companies, including retailers.
In Canada, some small retailers have been using the cameras for about a year and there is a wave of additional retailers looking into it now.
Bookmarked
On our reading list
Post-prorogue: Programs for Black entrepreneurs face an uncertain future with funding due to expire in March.
Vroom vroom: Tesla is raising Canadian prices for its vehicles by up to $9,000 starting Feb. 1.
Medicine market: AstraZeneca is set to invest $820-million in Ontario’s life-sciences sector, saying it will create 700 jobs.
Debunking rewards: Three myths and three facts about loyalty programs, and whether they are worth the hype.
Morning update
Global shares were mostly higher after U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest comments were seen as taking a softer stance toward tariffs against China and raised the prospect of lower U.S. interest rates. Wall Street futures edged lower on uncertainty about Trump’s trade policies, while TSX futures were little changed.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.39 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.37 per cent, Germany’s DAX rose 0.31 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.94 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.07 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.86 per cent.
The Canadian dollar traded at 69.75 U.S. cents.