Executive Summary

Communities across Alberta are facing increasing challenges related to crime, homelessness, and property damage, particularly in their business cores. These issues not only threaten the safety and security of residents and business owners but also undermine economic vitality and community cohesion. Addressing these challenges is crucial for ensuring sustainable growth and enhancing the quality of life in rural areas.

We also recognize that many of the concerns we see downtown with crime, homelessness, property damage and theft spill over into various other areas of the City. 

Background: Why this Matters

The cost of drug and crime-related incidents to government and businesses in Alberta is significant, though exact figures can vary depending on the source and scope of the analysis. 

Government Costs can include law enforcement & justice system, as there are substantial resources allocated to policing, courts, and corrections. 

Drug-related hospitalizations, emergency services, and addiction treatment programs also contribute heavily to public spending, in addition to social services and programs addressing homelessness, mental health, and rehabilitation are often linked to mental health issues, substance abuse and crime, further increasing costs.

For businesses, they incur costs related to theft and property damage and have cumulative losses from break-ins, shoplifting, and vandalism, in addition to staff and customer safety concerns. 

While Alberta-specific totals for 2024 are not yet fully published, national and provincial estimates suggest the total economic burden of substance abuse in Canada (including crime, healthcare, and productivity losses) is estimated in the tens of billions annually. Alberta’s share, based on population and crime rates, likely runs into billions of dollars per year.

What have we worked on for our members....

As a Chamber, we want to ensure our businesses have the background information for what we have been working on, which we summarized in a post in February 2025 - https://chamber.southeastalbertachamber.ca/advocacyinsights/Details/ongoing-work-to-address-concerns-around-downtown-252116.

Since that time, the province has introduced compassionate intervention legislation: https://www.alberta.ca/compassionate-intervention#:~:text=The%20Compassionate%20Intervention%20Act%20allows,danger%20to%20themselves%20or%20others 

The Medicine Hat Police have also added additional officers to focus on problem areas with the 2025-2026 City budget.

We partnered with the Medicine Hat Police to host Info Sessions, with the last one held on April 18, 2024: https://youtu.be/Lp2Ff7wKBj8?si=kdU8cthUIBQSXhcp. 

The City’s Resilient and Inclusive Community Task Force was also established to work towards identifying solutions to some of these challenges. 

For interested Chamber members, they can request to be added to our Safety and Enhancement committee to receive notifications when there are initiatives of interest to that subscription base of businesses and to ensure they receive our events newsletters when we do have events and roundtables that may be of interest.

Our Chamber adopted a policy on supporting communities in managing crime, homelessness and property damage in February 2025, which was also adopted by the Alberta Chambers of Commerce during our provincial conference in May 2025, to gain the support of the provincial Chamber network in our advocacy efforts.

In the meantime, businesses can check out these resources:

1. Downtown Patrol Unit and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design: https://medicinehatdistrictchamberofcommerce.growthzoneapp.com/ap/CloudFile/Download/P36oeelp - this is a free service provided by the Medicine Hat Police to come and assess your building for potential improvements to prevent crime.
2. Medicine Hat Police Crime Map: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/71cffa71d1af49b7902990eba513c1b6?org=CityMedicineHat, so you can see the hotspots and information.
3. Needle Debris Program: If you find a needle or any substance use debris, leave a message at (403) 866-4698 or email medicinehat@safelinkalberta.ca. Find out more: https://safelinkalberta.ca/outreach-needle-debris/
4. Medicine Hat Community Housing: What to Do If resources: https://mhchs.ca/what-to-do-if-and-we-can-help/
5. Proactive Engagement and Community Enhancement Team (PEACE): https://www.mhps.ca/posts/post/9003
6. Community Summit Reports from the Medicine Hat Community Housing website. https://mhchs.ca/ that also outline actions and responsibilities

We encourage our business community to report any activity so that the Medicine Hat Police can track and respond to concerns in our community. If it’s an emergency, please call 911. If it is a non-emergency, you can call 403-529-8481. The Medicine Hat Police Service also has an app and website portal for anyone who wishes to submit a tip online: https://mhps.ca/posts/post/596#:~:text=Reports%20can%20be%20filed%20online,(403)%20529%2D8481.

We also encourage our business community to print the ‘What to do if’ poster linked above for easy access for all staff at your place of business. 

Our Recommendations:

We recognize that it’s a multi-layered issue with federal and provincial legislation, various ministries and funding involved, in addition to our municipalities and service organizations, which is why our recommendations ask for the Government of Alberta to:

1.    Provide dedicated funding to support local needs related to crime, addictions, mental health, and homelessness. This funding should be flexible to address the unique challenges faced by different rural communities.

2.    Establish an advisory council with representation from the ministries of Justice, Mental Health & Addictions, Municipal Affairs, Public Safety, Affordability and Utilities, Seniors, Community and Social Services, and Treasury Board and Finance.

3.    Allocate equitable funding models to municipalities for law enforcement and community-based solutions on a per capita investment to help address crime, homelessness and property damage issues.

4.    Provide tax credits or funding to support businesses in implementing crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) strategies and financial relief through interest free loans or disaster relief style funding for the recovery of property damage and other measures that promote community safety.

5.    Ensure that provincial regulations support community efforts around public safety, mental health and addictions, and to minimize repeat offences by aligning goals and outcomes to address local crime and mental health and addictions impacts on local communities.

We also sent a letter to City Council in March 2025, following the Chamber of Commerce Business Advisory Committee meeting in January, the recent business impact survey conducted in March, and City Council passing the budget in December, to request City Council expand the area and defining the focus of the proposed Enhancement Grant to better serve our business community's needs and recommended:

1. Expansion of Grant Coverage: The grant discussion has been primarily focused on downtown. We would urge the City of Medicine Hat to expand the grant to include locations identified in the City of Medicine Hat Police Crime reports and mapping, and ensure any areas with higher crime rates receive the necessary support to enhance safety and security.

2. Focus on Security and CPTED Enhancements: The grant or possible tax incentives should prioritize projects that align with recommendations provided through a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) review. By focusing on security enhancements and CPTED recommendations, we can create safer environments that deter criminal activity and promote community well-being.

3. Exclusion of General Vandalism: It is important to note that general vandalism should not be included in the recommendations for this grant, as it does not have a direct impact on ongoing safety improvements. However, this could be addressed by utilizing other community partnerships that already exist and working out a fee-for-service for high-impact areas.

Any grant funds should remain focused on strategies that have a lasting impact on community safety and long-term benefits for businesses and properties.

If businesses have additional suggestions, solutions or ideas, we encourage them to utilize our business issue submission form to provide us feedback.