Canada’s business community is concerned about the increase in retail crime across the country.

According to new data provided by the Retail Council of Canada, violent incidents in retail settings have increased by 76 per cent compared to last year.

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The total damage caused by theft, break-ins, and other crimes amounts to more than $9 billion nationwide.

Provincial business leaders are sounding the alarm, because they say that increased crime represents significant losses for small businesses, which are already dealing with a sluggish economy.

“What these reports continue to show is that small businesses in British Columbia are being crushed under the weight of an organized and casual theft paradigm that really is adding to the cost pressures of running any kind of a small business,” said Jeremy Heighton, president of the Business Improvement Areas of B.C.

In an interview with 1130 NewsRadio, he calls on all levels of government to address the issue.

“We all need to come together, and we really need to hammer out more than platitudes. We need to hammer out effective and concise solutions which are clearly accountable to the residents of British Columbia, because this is just one of those issues that has lingered for far, far too long.”

He criticizes that the current environment encourages repeat offenders and even pushes businesses out of certain areas, such as the recent announcement by London Drugs to leave its Woodward’s building location in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

“The first solution is to tackle nonviolent, prolific offenders, people who are in the community,” Heighton explained.

“They’re not necessarily using a gun or violence to commit a crime, but they are committing crimes on a regular basis because there’s been poor accountability for those actions in the past. There’s sort of this sense of freedom to just commit an act.”

He says that many areas in the Lower Mainland are losing businesses because of it and calls the development a “crisis in the making.” In order to prevent more damage to businesses and communities, he is arguing for stricter punishments.

“We have been very clear that our expectation is that there are advances made in the criminal justice system across B.C.”

Additionally, Heighton highlights that it is important not to leave business owners alone with the issue of increased crime.

He suggests offering more combined prevention training and funding, as well as providing grants to businesses that have put in the work to minimize crime.