A recent survey conducted by the Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce asked their 600+ members about the impact of social issues on their business operations.
The Chamber received around 80 responses to their "Business Impact Survey', with respondents answering from all areas within the city and outside of city limits.
CEO Rob Clark said that many of the questions were taken from surveys in other communities experiencing the same issues. “Safety of customers, safety of employees, just all kinds of concerns for safety, security protocols."
Out of the 67 respondents who answered the question ‘From 2021 to 2024, has there been increased concerns around the safety of your employees?’, 67 per cent answered ‘Yes’.
When asked if there were increased concerns from customers about the safety of the location of their business over that same time period, 66 businesses responded, and 54 per cent said ‘Yes’.
Top impacts businesses reported that they and employees have experienced since 2021 included loitering/trespassing (82 per cent), theft (56 per cent), and harassing actions/violence (56 per cent).
Out of 56 respondents who answered the question ‘Have you called Moose Jaw Police Service in the last 12 months?’, 68 per cent responded that they had.
When it came to rating satisfaction with services provided by MJPS, 49 responses were received, with 73 per cent saying they were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘somewhat satisfied’.
In terms of estimated losses related to criminality and social issues, responses ranged from $0 to $300,000.
When selecting the top priorities requiring more support, it was a tie between substance abuse/addictions and depression/mental health issues, followed by homelessness, and affordable housing.
Responses were mixed when it came to whether the City of Moose Jaw engages effectively with businesses around criminality and social issues. Out of 51 responses, 33 per cent either strongly or somewhat agreed, with 39 per cent either somewhat or strongly disagreeing.
“We’ve already shared it with the police; we’ve already shared it with City Hall; we’ve shared it with Square One,” said Clark.
“We want to share it with any community-minded people or organizations, so that they can share it and use it, and maybe use some of the data help them move forward on their concerns."