ManitobaThe Manitoba government announced a new $2,500 security-system rebate program for businesses on Thursday. Businesses can also apply for retroactive reimbursement for some repair costs.Business can apply for $2.5K rebates to cover costs of cameras, lighting, crime-related insurance claimsBryce Hoye · CBC News · Posted: Dec 11, 2025 8:11 PM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Coffee Culture owner Bibban Rekhi, seen at her shop on Thursday, says she hopes a new security rebate program can help businesses like hers that have experienced break-ins and theft, though she says she likely isn’t eligible and doesn’t need more upgrades. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)A Winnipeg coffee shop owner is hopeful the provincial government’s new security rebate will help protect some businesses, even though she is unlikely to benefit herself.Bibban Rekhi hosted a Thursday NDP event at Coffee Culture, her Pembina Highway business, where Justice Minister Matt Wiebe announced a $10-million fund for businesses that want to beef up security. “This is a major fund,” said Wiebe, calling it “unprecedented in terms of the per capita spend by government to support businesses across Canada.”The rebate is open to businesses with 75 or fewer employees, and comes after the NDP expanded a similar program this fall for homeowners and tenants.Business can apply for up to $2,500 to over costs of surveillance systems, motion sensor lighting or other security systems. Multi-location businesses can apply once for each spot.Businesses that purchased items after Aug. 23, 2024, or that incurred costs from repairs and insurance claims stemming from crime-related property damage in that period, can apply to be reimbursed.NDP Public Services Minister Mintu Sandhu, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe, and Fort Richmond MLA Jennifer Chen announce a new security rebate program for Manitoba businesses on Thursday. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)Rekhi doesn’t make the cutoff, and she isn’t sure more cameras and lighting would help.She had security systems in place in fall 2023, when a thief caused $16,000 in damage and other losses during two break-ins a week apart.”We had cameras, we had all the security measures, but nothing could be done … and the next week it was a bigger theft,” she said. “For the same person to come again shows how bold they’ve become.” There was change after she and a group of local businesses chipped in for after-hours security. However, contract costs for private security are ineligible under the new program, according to the province.Best rebate in Canada: associationKris Barnier, vice-president for Restaurants Canada’s central region, said making contract security costs eligible is something the organization would’ve welcomed, but the new Manitoba program is still “absolutely the best that we’ve seen in Canada,” he said.”As we go out and do advocacy in other provinces, this is going to be the model that we point to as the best one out there.”Kris Barnier, the central region vice-president for Restaurants Canada, says the Manitoba program is the best security rebate of its kind to date for businesses in the country. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)Restaurants Canada started talks with the NDP on the prospect of a security rebate before Barnier joined the organization last year, he said.In meetings with Wiebe and Finance Minister Adrien Sala, the organization pointed to a model worth considering in B.C, with some suggested tweaks, Barnier said.The B.C. government offered $3,000 for business with a workforce of up to 50. Businesses with multiple locations could apply once for up to $2,000 for damage from crime, and $1,000 for preventative security upgrades.Barnier says because Manitoba’s cap is higher, at 75 staff, and allows a single business to apply once for each location, it may prove more accessible to businesses.Winnipeg Police Service Deputy Chief Scot Halley said having a security camera can help investigators track down offenders after the fact, but a camera alone may not cut it.Winnipeg Police Service Deputy Chief Scot Halley emphasized the importance of having good lighting systems paired with cameras to act as deterrents. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)”Cameras are very essential for identifying the suspect, but I have looked at far too many grainy, dark videos over my time trying to identify … the individual,” said Halley, who is also president of the Manitoba Association of Chiefs of Police.”A decent camera system with good lighting goes a long way to help us identify who is responsible for the crimes. It’s a combination.”Tyler Slobogian, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said the rebate is a step forward for small businesses that have been incurring more on property crime.The organization estimates small business owners in Manitoba have spent $5,000 on average over the past two to three years on “crime-related costs.””Broken windows, damaged doors, rising insurance deductibles, stolen goods, all the security equipment adds up real quickly, especially when you’re operating on razor-thin margins like most of our members,” said Slobogian.”That’s why CFIB has been advocating for a government rebate, and we’re pleased to see the government listening.”He said a recent survey suggested a majority of Manitoba’s 5,000 small businesses had seen increased crime around their businesses in the past year.”This is only one part of the solution, and there’s still a lot of work to address the root causes of crime, improve response times and really strengthen overall community safety,” said Slobogian.Coffee Culture’s Rekhi said when she reported the first of two break-ins two years ago, she waited outside her shop for hours, expecting police to arrive. She didn’t want to disturb the scene, but after hours waiting, they went in and started cleaning up.Police called her back two days later, asking her to send in surveillance footage, said Rekhi. Her “confidence in the system got shaken” after that, she said.”Seeing the police out here, I am hopeful that somewhere there’s going to be a conscious [move] and everyone is going to step in and try going forward to make Winnipeg more safe,” Rekhi said.”Just with security cameras or other security features, it’s not going to change.”ABOUT THE AUTHORBryce Hoye is a multi-platform journalist with a background in wildlife biology. He has worked for CBC Manitoba for over a decade with stints producing at CBC’s Quirks & Quarks and Front Burner. He was a 2024-25 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. He is also Prairie rep for outCBC. He has won a national Radio Television Digital News Association award for a 2017 feature on the history of the fur trade, and a 2023 Prairie region award for an audio documentary about a Chinese-Canadian father passing down his love for hockey to the next generation of Asian Canadians.Selected storiesEmail: bryce.hoye@cbc.caFacebookMore by Bryce Hoye
Manitoba business community hopes rebate helps bolster security
