Surrounded by lush forest and built around a historic ship port, Prince Rupert could easily be the picture on a postcard.
But this Canadian coastal town is now so dangerous Walmart has closed its local supermarket due to fears for staff safety.
The only Walmart within a 144km radius, the budget supermarket is a lifeline for many of the low-income residents in the town, and will be a huge loss for families.
Nestled between the Great Bear Rainforest and the Skeena River, the town of 12,000 has become an unlikely breeding ground for crime, drugs and homelessness.
Local business owners have said the once-peaceful area is now plagued by constant shoplifting and vandalism which often escalates into violence.
Shocking figures show that Prince Rupert’s crime index is more than double the provincial average, and more than 3.5 times higher than the national average.
The exact figures for number of crimes for that year are not given, but figures from 2020 show the area recorded 14,977 crimes per 100,000 people in 2020.
This compares with a provincial average of 6,040 for British Columbia, and 4,233 for Canada as a whole.
A beautiful port city nestled between the Great Bear Rainforest and the Skeena River, Prince Rupert has long been a stunning getaway for American tourists
Criminology expert Neil Boyd told The Northern View that this reflects a concerning 10-year average.
Boyd said that although crime stats improved a little in 2024, overall the outlook for the city is still bleak.
‘The important thing is for people, when they look at these crime stats, to look at it over a 10-year time frame,’ the Simon Fraser University criminology professor emeritus said.
Canada Crime Report figures show that the city is way above the national average for both violent and non-violent crimes. It’s unclear what sparked the increase.
Stores have been shuttering their doors in response.
The situation has become so bleak that Walmart shuttered its doors recently, citing ‘safety concerns’ for staff and customers.
‘We know how much the community valued this store and while this is not the outcome we hoped for, this decision was only made after a full review of options,’ the store said in a statement.
The decision came after a temporary shutdown earlier this year.
In recent years, Walmart has permanently shuttered all of its stores in Portland, Oregon, after the CEO warned of a historic rise in thefts.
Shocking figures show the crime index for Prince Rupert in British Columbia is more than double the provincial average, and more than 3.5 times higher than the national average
The Canadian coastal town is now so dangerous the local Walmart (pictured) has closed
In recent years, the Canada vacation spot has become an unlikely breeding ground for violent crime with an increasing number of homeless encampments
A recent survey by the Business Improvement Association of British Columbia showed that two-thirds of 350 businesses in Prince Rupert surveyed had said disorder in stores had increased over the past year.
They cited increased drug use and homeless encampments in the area, saying poverty was triggering an increase in theft and violence.
Shockingly, the poll found that nearly one in five business owners said their business may not be financially viable beyond the next year unless conditions improve.
Marquis Wine Cellars owner John Clerides said his store is frequently hit with vandalism and shoplifting which costs him around $15,000 a year to remedy.
Clerides, who comes from a family of downtown Prince Rupert business owners, said the situation has worsened dramatically only in recent years.
‘What this does in the long-term — you see this in the United States — is the downtown becomes a retail or food desert,’ he told the Vancouver Sun.
‘And when a street dies, a city dies. You are seeing that in the downtown.’
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