Body cameras in aisle three: Security measures improve safety at Saskatoon store

For more than a year, body-worn cameras have been used in a Loblaws grocery store in Saskatoon.

The cameras were first introduced at the Superstore on Confederation Drive as part of a pilot project. The move was intended to “support community safety and maintain a safe environment for colleagues and customers,” according to an emailed statement from Loblaws.

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Lucy Figueiredo, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1400 – the union representing Superstore employees – said that store has been a “hot spot” for safety issues.

“Our members were very scared at Confederation,” Figueiredo said, noting that multiple meetings surrounding occupational health and safety were held about the issues at that particular store.

“If you’re from Saskatoon, you’re familiar with the neighborhood and Confederation and the issues and concerns,” she shared, noting the store’s proximity to a nearby mall, public library and the Fairhaven wellness centre.

“It was kind of like a really scary situation with homeless people, people with mental health issues that were kind of congregating at Confederation, the store,” Figueiredo added.

Figueiredo said Loblaws was overwhelmed with the rate of theft from the store, along with other safety concerns.

“For a while there, it was becoming a real big concern for health and safety that there really was no ability to stop it,” she explained, adding that when the concept of body cameras was initially introduced, some staff members welcomed it as a possible intervention option.

On March 31, 2025, Loblaws said in an online post that violent incidents and retail crime are both on the rise, creating a risk for both employees and customers.

“It is a reality that we must tackle head-on,” the company wrote, outlining the growing number of incidents as the reason that its body-worn camera pilot – which began in two stores in Saskatoon and Calgary – would be expanding into some B.C., Ontario and Manitoba stores.

“We’re committed to creating safe stores, and this technology is one of the ways we’re working to achieve that,” Loblaws added.

Loblaws sent a single statement, but declined several requests for interviews to discuss safety initiatives at its Saskatchewan stores. The Saskatoon Police Service also declined a request for an interview with the officer in charge of restorative justice, who works closely with Loblaws.

Saskatoon police shared data showing calls to 411 Confederation Drive and 2901 Eighth Street East, the locations of the two Superstores in the city, between September 2023 and April 2026. While the data for the Confederation address also includes other businesses at that location, calls for service have seen an overall decrease since mid-2024. Some spikes in calls occurred in 2025, but calls in 2026 have been notably lower than the previous two years, so far.

A graph showing the monthly total calls for service to 411 Confederation Drive to Saskatoon police between September 2023 and April 2026. (Saskatoon Police Service/Submitted)

A similar drop in calls could be seen for the store on Eighth Street two years ago, with a single similar spike in calls in summer 2025. However, the numbers still showed an overall trend of fewer calls to police this year compared to 2024 and 2025.

A graph showing the monthly total calls for service to 2901 Eighth Street East to Saskatoon police between September 2023 and April 2026. (Saskatoon Police Service/Submitted)

While the problems haven’t been fully eliminated, Figueiredo, who has been working with the union for 23 years, said there has been a “drastic decrease” in theft from the store, and said union members are feeling better about going to work.

Figueiredo didn’t completely attribute that decrease in theft to the body cameras, however, explaining that around the same time the cameras were introduced, Loblaws also instituted a policy requiring customers to show their driver’s licence to enter a Superstore and access the liquor store.

“Having a liquor store in the store, it was even more of a draw for people who were looking for opportunities to steal things,” Figueiredo explained. She said making that area less publicly accessible and changing the store layout to keep high-value items locked up have both contributed to the safety improvements.

While body-worn cameras have only been introduced at the Confederation Drive location, the other security measures have been implemented across Saskatchewan.

“We did have a lot of people concerned about their safety at that time, and now, since the changes that they’ve made, it’s gotten a lot better for them,” Figueiredo explained.

She said no customer-facing workers – cashiers, customer-service representatives and stock workers – are wearing body cameras. Security guards, loss-prevention officers, managers and assistant store managers are the only personnel who wear the cameras.

“They’re using it as a truly interventionist tool. If there is an escalating situation going on, they’ll put the body cam on and come down and intervene,” Figueireido said, adding that she doesn’t believe the cameras are constantly in use.

Stores that participated in the pilot program for the body-worn cameras put up signage at the entrance of the store to inform customers of the program. Loblaws said that if one of the cameras is turned on, workers are trained to verbally inform those around them to ensure all present are aware that footage is being recorded. Footage not required for a police investigation is deleted within 72 hours, Loblaws said, for privacy and transparency reasons.

According to a statement from the Saskatoon Police Service, officers can request footage from loss-prevention officers and asset-protection officers in the course of an investigation.

Figueireido said the union has not yet been told whether the body-worn cameras are to be a permanent addition to the Confederation Drive Superstore.