Business owners in Victoria’s core are sick of waiting for “perfect” solutions, and the organization that represents them is demanding action from all levels of government.
The Downtown Victoria Business Association’s 2025 Report on Downtown: A Wake Up Call is a comprehensive look at data drawn from the area, including a survey of 1,800 association members – with a record 30 per cent response rate.
In years past, it was an “opaque” report full of data simply presented, said executive director Jeff Bray.
“This year … the report really serves as a significant wake-up call to all levels of government that businesses are in a difficult situation and are no longer able to wait for long-term solutions, long-term action,” he said.
A standout statistic from the survey shows nearly half of businesses would leave if things don’t change in the next year.
“Forty-eight per cent of those that responded said that they either would not renew, or were undecided as to whether or not they would renew, meaning they are not looking to wait three to five years for changes. We need action right now,” Bray said. It’s particularly troublesome paired with an 11 per cent retail vacancy rate, compared to 3.4 per cent in 2019. “That trend line is very concerning with a number of businesses openly questioning whether they want to stay downtown.”
The annual survey routinely asks businesses to give a letter grade to doing business downtown. This year, nearly 54 per cent gave downtown a C+ or lower. Bray noted that in 2019, 5.2 per cent gave a D or F.
“This year it was 22 per cent,” he said.
The key concerns remain traffic, perceived safety and parking. When pitted against each other in the survey – members were asked if they had to choose between spending $150,000 on improved safety or parking – they overwhelmingly chose safety (73.87 per cent). For the DVBA, that demonstrates a clear priority to significantly reduce street disorder, including open drug use, camping in doorways and on sidewalks, and repeat criminal activity.
“This is not a new phenomenon, this has been building up for years … We need action now, they cannot afford to wait any longer for studies, task forces, reports,” Bray said, calling for action from all three levels of government.
“Don’t let perfect get in the way of progress. Just take action, it won’t be perfect, it won’t be seamless, but we can’t wait for the perfect solution, perfect facility, perfect scenario, before government takes action.”
For example, he noted the province has previously deemed portables – not unlike those left empty at the Site C building site in northern B.C. – good enough for kids in daycare or school and so shouldn’t be an issue to use to house drug or mental health treatment. The primary issues are mental health and addictions, Bray said, and waiting for a handful of beds here and there isn’t going to cut it.
The DVBA is calling on the province to expand mental health and addictions services and strengthen the justice system; as well as seeking bail reform at the federal level.
“This revolving-door justice system where our businesses see the same person stealing from their store day in day out, is one of the reasons why businesses and their staff are not happy doing business downtown,” Bray said.
“The small number of people committing the majority of the crimes, if they were held in custody, you would see an immediate reduction in crime.”
From the City of Victoria, they want to see more policing and 24/7 bylaw patrols and enforcement to deal with street disorder.
“Nothing else will improve until the streetscape looks better,” he said, praising VicPD projects such as increased foot patrols that target prolific offenders. “Every time that they’re out doing beats and special projects, the crime rate goes down and the street disorder goes down. So we want to see more police on the street.”
“Get on with not only saving our downtowns, but saving lives (and) providing the care for people who are struggling on our streets,” he said.
It’s a call coming from several cities and communities, Bray said, specifically mentioning high-profile Nanaimo and Vancouver. Save Our Streets, a coalition of 120-plus community and business organizations in B.C., echoed the sentiment after the DVBA released its survey and call for action on Wednesday (June 11). SOS says its members are experiencing the ongoing “chaos of retail theft, vandalism, open drug use, violence and other criminal activity on a daily basis,” cofounder Jess Ketchum said in a news release. “Victoria is not only our capital but an iconic, idyllic symbol of beautiful, safe, friendly British Columbia. We are allowing that global perception to be destroyed.”
The costs associated with not moving forward outweigh those of waiting and “doing it right,” Ketchum agrees.
“The cost of continuing as we have, with pilot projects and ‘initial steps’ instead of real foundational change, will be so much higher, and the damage to communities long-lasting and profound. It’s time our politicians stopped putting criminals first and started focusing more on the B.C. families, taxpayers, business owners, and the vulnerable living with addiction and mental illnesses, who are suffering the impacts of their inaction.”
For Victoria, it could be life-saving to the core business area, according to the DVBA.
“Downtown has moved to critical care. It’s not dying, but it can’t sustain itself without some significant and immediate action.”
