By Anita Grace
Saigon Meats and Vegetables on Somerset West is a small store packed with Chinese groceries and products. It was busy in advance of Chinese New Year, but owners Phung Nguyen and Pham Thi Hong, said they’ve been seeing a decline in customer numbers. Nguyen attributes this to factors like increased drug use in the area and theft, as well as to reductions in available parking.
They are far from alone.
Mina Shiraz, owner of the family-run Shiraz Market on Somerset West, agrees that business is down.
“The economy is the number one factor,” she told KT. “It’s very hard to survive.”
With food costs continuing to rise, Shiraz struggles to make a profit while trying to set prices low enough to maintain her customer base. “Prices keep jumping up,” she said, adding that it’s hard for small businesses to compete with big box stores. She’s also noticed that her regular customers don’t have the money to spend on extra things.
Shoplifting on the rise
In January, the Angus Reid Institute published findings on a series examining crime in Canada. They note that shoplifting, verbal abuse, and physical threats have become the norm for people working in retail. Even while many common crimes have declined, rates of shoplifting are at their highest mark in decades. They attribute this to complex factors like increased financial pressures, mental health and addictions, lower police staffing levels, and an increased focus on theft among organized crime groups.
Nguyen, at Saigon Meats and Vegetables, agrees that there has been more shoplifting. He added there are additional challenges like people injecting drugs and even overdosing in his store.
Meng Lim, owner of Lim Bangkok Grocery on Somerset West, said he sees shoplifting daily. It got worse after the safe injection site opened in 2018 at Somerset West Community Health Centre(SWCHC). The site was shut down in March 2025, and since then things have gone from bad to worse. Lim had to install steel barricades around his door and entryway to prevent theft and trespassing. The Chinatown BIA installed an exterior security camera, and he has additional security cameras inside.
Over the past year, there have been repeated concerns by residents and business owners in Chinatown about the lack of support for people accessing Safe Supply – prescribed alternatives to street drugs – and concerns that there are fewer services available for vulnerable folks through the HART Hub model.
“We’re helping everybody as much as we can,” said Shiraz. But the current environment is putting a strain on customers and businesses. “Everybody is afraid.”
“When streets feel unsafe, businesses lose customers and workers,” said Michelle Groulx, Chief Advocate for the Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas (OCOBIA). She was delegating before the Ottawa Police Service Board in December 2025 to express concerns about the increases in crime that are directly affecting business owners in the downtown core. She told the Board that business owners are experiencing more violence and aggression, and they feel like shoplifters are stealing with impunity.
Increased police presence
OCOBIA was one of several public delegations expressing support for the increased police budget. They asked for a stronger police presence in Chinatown, Centretown, and other areas impacted by the crime and social disorder.
In response to such appeals, the Ottawa Police Service has increased efforts to address shoplifting. In January, they launched ‘Project Pantry,’ an initiative that focused on reducing shoplifting at a grocery store on the corner of Bank Street and Somerset West. Officers spent multiple shifts over a two-week span, arrested 12 people, and laid 78 charges.
The OPS has also added more officers to downtown neighbourhoods including the ByWard Market, Sandy Hill, and Centretown.
But even if police are increasing their presence, store owners in Centretown may not be turning to them for help.
Both Nguyen and Lim said they prefer not to call the police. Lim explained that “it’s not worth the headache” for a few cans of drinks or packets of sweets. Instead, he will call the Outreach Team if he needs assistance.
Derrick St. John, Director of Supportive Housing and Substance Use Health at SWCHC, said their Peer Outreach Team has people with lived and living experience who can respond to calls from local businesses and residents. If there is an individual being disruptive, members of the Team will engage with that person and help move them along.
“They meet them where they’re at,” explained St. John.
The Team will often bring them back to the HART Hub, connect them with resources, and offer immediate support such as food or medical care.
“The businesses have really liked it,” St. John said. They like that the teams offer both a proactive and a reactive approach, and that they have a direct line to call where “it’s a friendly voice picking up the phone.”