‘If people don’t feel safe, that is what matters,’ Winnipeg mayor says as stats show downtown crime spike

Some Winnipeg residents say they don’t feel safe downtown as police released new data showing a spike in violent and non-violent crime along a stretch of Portage Avenue.

More than 7,600 total crimes downtown were reported to police last year. That is about a 17 per cent increase compared with 2024, the Winnipeg Police Service’s 2025 annual statistical report, released Wednesday, says.

More than four in 10 of those crimes were reported along a stretch of Portage Avenue from around Furby Street to Main Street.

That section saw total crimes increase by more than 18 per cent in 2025 compared with 2024. Reported property crime rose by 26 per cent. Violent crime increased by nearly four per cent, and other crimes rose by 19 per cent. 

Brenden Gali, general manager of Portage Avenue bar and music venue Public Domain, said the findings were not surprising.

Public Domain general manager Brenden Gali says the rise in crime along Portage Avenue isn’t good for businesses like his. (CBC)

“We’ve had our front door pried open.… My car has had its tires slashed, its window broken into,” he said, adding that the situation hurts local businesses like his.

Public Domain is supposed to be a “a place to relax,” he said.

“It’s hard to relax when someone is overdosing, you know, five feet on the other side of the window or someone is … being chased down the street with, you know, a metal rod.”

Arlene Macklem, who grew up in Winnipeg and lives in St. Vital, said she feels like crime has gotten worse in the city’s downtown core in recent years. 

“I grew up here, I’ve lived here all my life. I don’t feel safe, and I don’t feel safe after dark in many parts of downtown,” Macklem said.

The report also shows there were fewer total incidents of violent crime across the city in 2025, decreasing by nearly five per cent compared with 2024.

Homicides, robberies, assaults, firearms offences and knife crimes reported to police all decreased last year compared to 2024. The number of homicides in the city dropped by nearly half, and firearms-related offences dipped by nearly 25 per cent, the report said. 

Overall reports of shoplifting also decreased nearly five per cent, despite property crime rising slightly in 2025. 

Youth crimes in Winnipeg dropped for the first time in four years, the police service said in its report. Total youth crimes decreased nearly 12 per cent, while violent youth crimes decreased 16 per cent — the latter representing the “largest decrease in recent history,” police said. 

Winnipeg Police Service Chief Gene Bowers speaks at a news conference unveiling the report Wednesday. A 13 per cent increase in the number of incidents where items were stolen from vehicles is a concern, he says. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)

Total crime severity “decreased significantly” in 2025, police said, dropping nearly nine per cent. Violent crime severity was down 11 per cent. 

Winnipeg police Chief Gene Bowers said he’s pleased some crime statistics are “trending in the right direction,” but the report also highlights crime categories that need more attention in 2026. A 13 per cent increase in the number of incidents where items were stolen from vehicles is a particular concern, he said.

“I’m concerned about theft from vehicles … and I know those types of crime really give that perception of it’s not safe,” Bowers said, adding non-violent crime such as vehicle break-ins have “a big impact on the feeling of safety.”

Mayor Scott Gillingham said while the crime statistics report “shows encouraging signs of progress,” the numbers alone don’t capture how residents feel about crime in their neighbourhoods. 

“Perception matters because perception becomes reality for people … If people don’t feel safe, that is what matters,” he said. 

Increasing police presence in the downtown core could help some Winnipeg residents and businesses feel more safe, the mayor said. 

Bowers said the police service has bought e-bikes and is training members in the hopes of increasing visibility. Members of the foot patrol will also be walking along Portage Avenue “quite a bit” this summer, he said.

Hate-motivated crimes surge

As many other crime metrics dwindled, hate-motivated crimes reported to police rose dramatically in 2025.

There were 112 reported hate-motivated crimes last year compared with 44 in 2024 — a more than 154 per cent increase.

Victims of hate-motivated crimes were most commonly targeted for their race or ethnicity last year, with Black people affected more than any other group, the report says. Hate-motivated crimes related to a person’s religion were the second-most common, with Jewish people experiencing the vast majority of reported incidents in 2025.

More than four in five reported hate-motivated crimes were classified by police as “mischief,” the police report said.

David Bowman, a data analysis specialist who serves as the police service’s director of organizational development and support, said hate-motivated crimes have been on the rise nationally for the last several years. The number reported in Winnipeg has remained relatively stable, ranging from 26 to 46 reported crimes between 2019 and 2024, he said.

Statistics Canada numbers show the number of hate crimes reported to Canadian police services has more than doubled since 2018. There were 4,882 hate crimes reported across the country in 2024, the most recent data available shows. 

“It’s really just this year that we’ve kind of caught up to the rest of the country,” Bowman said. 

The police service made changes to its online reporting system last year, Bowers said, including adding the ability to report hate-motivated graffiti, which accounted for one in five hate-motivated incidents in 2025. Expanded online options could mean police are getting more reports of previously under-reported crimes, he said.

Bowers encouraged Winnipeggers to report crimes to police so officials can “put the dots together” and investigate incidents thoroughly.

“The more information we have, the better we are,” he said.

Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Coun. Sherri Rollins said while police are taking steps to address the problem, she’s worried there’s still not enough collaboration between all actors on the ground, which include business improvement zone patrols, transit officers, provincial institutional safety officers and others in addition to police.

“I’m really concerned … there is Band-Aids, but there is no co-ordination,” Rollins said. “People don’t know who to call.”