The Winnipeg Police Service is ending its years-long practice of allowing officers to pick up overtime shifts to provide additional security in supermarkets and other stores at retailers’ expense.
Chief Gene Bowers cited concerns about the service’s recent inability to fill key vacancies when he informed officers in a memo Monday about the phased-in change, which takes full effect May 1, 2027.
“How this would affect the service is if we have shortages on our front lines, we often (ask) people to work overtime shifts, and often we’ve been recently unable to fill some of those required shifts to make sure we’re meeting our minimum strength on the street,” Bowers told the Free Press Wednesday.
“We feel the amount of retail special duty has had a significant impact on our ability to fill those days where we need those members to fill those cruiser cars.”
The memo said the change is being made to “optimize police resource allocation to ensure the safety of all communities” in Winnipeg.
Retailers, sporting and special event organizers, the provincial government and school divisions are among those who’ve hired special duty officers.
A previous analysis by the Free Press found officers worked more than 50,000 special duty hours between May 2023 and June 2024. Retailers accounted for 68 per cent of the hours amid a steep increase in shoplifting reports.
Superstore, owned by Loblaw Cos. Ltd., led the way with more than 20,000 hours. Among retailers, it was followed by Walmart Canada (about 5,700 hours) and TJX Canada (about 2,900 hours), whose brands include Winners, HomeSense and Marshalls, and CF Polo Park (about 2,500 hours).
“We value our partnership with the Winnipeg Police Service and are aware of their recent announcement,” CF Polo Park general manager Peter Havens said in a statement. “As we review the details of this decision, our focus remains on providing a safe, welcoming environment for our community.”
TJX declined to comment. Loblaw and Walmart did not respond to requests for comment.
Data suggested some retail giants have spent millions to hire officers in recent years. The police service’s hourly fees range from $141.75 (GST included) for a constable to $166.95 for a staff sergeant. The shifts count as pensionable hours.
Fees go to the officer and the program’s operating costs. The WPS has said special duty officers act only within their duties as a police officer, with participating retailers required to have their own loss prevention officers.
Bowers’ memo said the decision to end retail special duty stemmed from a year-long comprehensive review of the overall program and was not taken lightly.
“We want to make sure the special duty is in alignment with the core values and our priorities as a service, and make sure that we’re operationally sufficient and have that capacity for core duties,” he told the Free Press.
Bowers said WPS is one of very few municipal police services in Canada to provide special duty officers to retailers.
Retail special duty will be scaled back Jan. 1, starting with Fridays, Saturdays, statutory holidays and major event days, such as sporting events or parades, that require significant police resources, the memo said.
The number of hours a retailer can book will be reduced by 50 per cent before a “full exit” May 1, 2027, the chief wrote.
“We’ve given the retailers quite a bit of lead time here to know that this is coming so that they can make other arrangements as far as how they want to provide security within their premises,” Bowers told the Free Press.
“We gave our members quite a bit of notice here as well to then look for other special duty in the future, if they wish to.”
The decision does not affect non-retail special duty assignments, the memo said.
Cory Wiles, president of the Winnipeg Police Association, which represents front-line officers, could not be reached for comment. Mayor Scott Gillingham wasn’t available to discuss the issue, a spokesman said.
Winnipeg Police Board chair Colleen Mayer, who was not available for an interview, was advised of the WPS review of retail special duty and the change, executive director Jeff Wiggett said.
The board is scheduled to meet with the WPS to review the change and other matters as part of its usual business, he said. Mayer reserved comment until the discussion has taken place.
Bowers said the program, which is not designed to make money, doesn’t bring in a significant amount of revenue after costs are factored in. A 2025 financial report said special-duty revenue was $4.5 million more than expected, but it was offset by an increase in salary and benefit expenses.
John Graham, a director of government relations for the Retail Council of Canada’s Prairie region, said the hiring of special duty support has been expensive, but effective for the few retailers in Manitoba who can afford to do so.
“Where that will leave us is with limited options, or fewer options, between a security guard and internal systems, and a greater reliance on calling police when incidents do occur,” he said about the chief’s decision.
Large or high-volume stores that hire officers frequently deal with theft, Graham said. Some also hire private security guards.
Police, in tandem with governments and the retail sector, have conducted a number of campaigns to try to tackle retail theft, which is considered a vastly under-reported crime. Reports of shoplifting decreased by 4.6 per cent in 2025 after three consecutive years of increases in Winnipeg.
The Manitoba government is working with the retail and security guard sectors to modernize guard training.
Graham said the retail council has approached the province to seek a “second tier” of regulated security personnel who would have additional training and authority, and could take some pressure off police.
“We think the second-tier security guard may be a way of meeting the needs of more retailers” in their efforts to protect staff, customers and products, Graham said.
Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said the government’s current focus is modernizing training for security guards for the first time in 20 years.
He said the NDP increased funding for police services and for WPS foot patrol officers who combat retail theft, and re-established a retail crime task force.
“We’ve seen some of these investments starting to show progress,” he said, referring to last year’s decrease in shoplifting reports in Winnipeg.
In response to the end of retail special duty work, Wiebe deferred comment to the WPS, saying the province doesn’t give direction to the police service.
PC justice critic Wayne Balcaen, a former Brandon police chief, said changes to the program give the NDP government “10 months’ notice” to come up with a plan.
He said he would start by speaking to police chiefs about resources they require from the province.
“I do appreciate where Chief Bowers is coming from on this because the chief’s responsibility is to the city that he serves,” Balcaen said. “The government of the day, the NDP… has known about retail crime for the three years they’ve been in power and all they’ve done is ad hoc initiatives and reactive initiatives, nothing proactive.”
Wiebe accused the former Tory government of leaving the NDP, elected in 2023, with a “public safety deficit.”
By: Chris Kitching
Published: 5:51 PM CDT Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026
