Moncton businesses demand help, say property crime in city is ‘escalating’

Windows on Patrick Gillespie's Edmonton Avenue property in central Moncton are boarded up after five break-ins within a two week span in November.

He said he regularly deals with vandalism and property crimes at his many commercial properties, but five incidents in two weeks was a record — and his last straw.

Gillespie, a co-owner of Ashford Investments, has started a coalition of business owners planning to lobby the municipal and provincial governments and local police to do more to prevent these costly crimes.

"The break-ins have been escalating," he said. "It's just every single week something happens, somebody breaks in, somebody vandalizes, somebody accosts someone, someone lights a dumpster on fire ... it just keeps going," he said.

Gillespie’s group, called Enough Is Enough, has started a petition demanding solutions. As of Nov. 28, the petition had around 3,000 signatures. 

"We are asking people to share their stories so that we can in turn pass that stuff on to the authorities," he said.

Gillespie said he has already spent over $250,000 on cameras, alarms, security systems and security guards in 2025. That amount also includes repair costs for break-ins and vandalism across different properties. 

Gillespie said a majority of his properties are now on a system that requires people to buzz in first. The landlord said he is also looking to install 24/7 artificial intelligence camera monitoring.

John Nicholson, a glazer and automatic door technician at First Class Glass said for the last couple of years, his weeks have been very busy.

A few years ago, he said he was getting a couple of calls per week, but now, the calls come on a daily basis.

"I've been here three times this week," said Nicholson, standing outside Gillespie's Edmonton Avenue property.

Kim Wilson, CEO of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce, said businesses have come to her and expressed concerns around safety and security.

She said most of the stories she hears are around theft, which results in loss and disruption for the businesses.

"I think … the frustration is a sense of lack of action in the community," she said.