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The B.C. government is investing millions to deal with chronic property offenders across the province.
The program, called the Chronic Property Offending Intervention Initiative, will bring 12 new regional hubs, helping to reduce street disorder and crimes targeting local businesses.
The province is investing $16 million into the program.
“Retail theft and street disorder undermine public safety and place added pressure on local businesses,” Nina Krieger, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, said in a statement.
“The province is targeting chronic property offending that threatens the livelihood of small businesses, which are the backbone of our communities. We’re building on progress we’ve made, dedicating more resources and working with partners to strengthen enforcement and keep communities vibrant and safe.”
Small-scale pilot projects launched in Kelowna, Nanaimo and Nelson in November 2025 and according to the province, Kelowna RCMP credited the program with helping stabilize property crime trends, including a decline in break-and-enters.
The program focuses on people in communities who are repeat offenders and commit crimes such as theft, shoplifting, vandalism and street disorder, with many of them having complex needs around housing, mental health and substance use.
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It is modelled after the Repeat Violent Offending Intervention Initiative and provides targeted enforcement, enhanced monitoring and release planning, as well as income assistance, if a person is eligible.
“Through the Chronic Property Offending Intervention Initiative, police and corrections work closely together to provide prosecutors with information to make timely decisions and craft appropriate bail and sentencing positions, leading to effective court outcomes,” Attorney General Niki Sharma said in a release.
The program brings together prosecutors, police, probation officers, correctional supervisors, community integration specialists and mental-health liaisons from Forensic Psychiatric Services.
The new hubs will add to the 12 existing Repeat Violent Offending Intervention Initiative regional hubs and will supervise as many as 865 people involved in repeat offending.
Business owners in communities across B.C. say the program cannot start soon enough.
“I went to Templeton High, and if you stole a doughnut at recess from the corner grocery store, the police were at school going, ‘ You stole a doughnut,” said Caren McSherry, Gourmet Warehouse founder and CEO.
“They can walk out with a KitchenAid or anything they want and nothing can be done.”
Sonia Komen, who owns the Nanaimo Bar on Vancouver Island, said she is excited about this program after experiencing vandalism and break-ins at her establishment.
In April, someone smashed the bar’s door in with a stool.
“These people that have mental illness or addiction or are just blatantly disrespectful…Something needs to be done,” she said.
The 12 new hubs established through Budget 2026 include:
* Castlegar/ Nelson
* Chilliwack
* Courtenay
* Dawson Creek
* Kelowna
* Langley
* Maple Ridge
* Penticton
* Surrey
* Vancouver (two hubs)
* Victoria
These new hubs are in addition to existing hubs in:
* Abbotsford
* Cranbrook
* Kamloops
* Kelowna
* Nanaimo
* New Westminster
* Prince George
* Surrey
* Terrace
* Vancouver
* Victoria
* Williams Lake
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
