To highlight issues that small businesses across Canada are facing, the Canadian Federation of Independant Business has compiled a report on crime.

Titled ‘Broken Windows and Broken Trust’, the report states that crimes against small businesses are up significantly in every province.

In addition to that, Tyler Slobogian, CFIB’s Senior Policy Analyst for the Prairies, says these number of small businesses in Saskatchewan experiencing crime has more than doubled from 25 per cent in 2023 to 51 per cent in 2024.

Also in Saskatchewan, the average amount of money small businesses are spending on crime-related expenses is around $8,000. The national average is $5,000.

He adds that vandalism and breaking/entering is the number one crime being reported by small businesses, followed by theft and shop lifting, and then presence of waste and litter.

CFIB is highly in favour of a small business crime-expense rebate program and hopes whoever wins the upcoming provincial election will start to cater to the small business community.

CFIB hopes the report is viewed by government and policy makers, in turn prompting them to tackle underlying issues such as mental health and addictions.

“It’s for government. We look to government to hopefully strike in collaboration, improve resources and address some underlying issues,” Slobogian explains.

Slobogian encourages the public to shop local as much as they can, as small businesses are already dealing with a plethora of issues that make doing business difficult.