The Laval Fire Dept. is investigating the cause of a fire that inflicted serious damages on a two-unit dwelling on Principale St. in the City of Laval’s Sainte-Dorothée sector on the morning of Thursday June 12.
Thirty firefighters responded to a 9-1-1 call around 10:30 am to the scene of the blaze near the corner of Hôtel-de-Ville Blvd.
The fire investigators initially believe the cause was either careless disposal of a cigarette or other smoking item, or an electrical malfunction.
The City of Laval was among several Montreal-area municipalities and districts where police arrested 13 suspects while seizing illicit drugs and firearms during a major police crackdown on extortion against restaurants.
More than 150 officers were involved in the operation led by the Montreal Police last week, which was carried out with assistance from the Sûreté du Québec.
This was after several restaurants in the Greater Montreal area, including some in Laval, were targeted by arsonists and other violent acts over the last few months.
In all, searches were carried out in Laval, Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Châteauguay, as well as in the Montreal boroughs of Lachine, LaSalle, Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, Sud-Ouest, Verdun and Ville-Marie.
Police say three main suspects, men aged 25, 34 and 39, were directly involved in a shooting at a restaurant on Sainte-Catherine Street in Montreal on Feb. 12.
During the searches, officers seized three firearms, one pound of cocaine, one pound of crystal meth, thousands of speed pills and nearly $120,000 in cash.
Judge goes easy on Laval ‘grandparent’ fraudster who stole nearly $90,000
A judge at the Palais de Justice de Laval went easy last week on a woman convicted of defrauding 11 senior citizens out of almost $90,000 in a grandparent fraud scheme.
Hajar Benbouhoud, 24, a former flight attendant who took part in the fraud scheme in July 2021, won’t have a criminal record after Judge Simon B. Dolci granted her a legal discharge.
In grandparent fraud, criminals posing as bank employees or as legal representatives tell the victim (a senior citizen) a false scenario to get them to pay out large sums or to give up their bank debit card.
Benbouhoud played the role of the person who goes to the home of the victim to pick up the cash or banking card.
By the time the police caught up with Benbouhoud, she had personally made around $4,000 in three weeks taking part in the scheme. After searching her car, they found an electric taser gun and 24 pieces of false ID.
She managed to convince the judge that she turned her life around since first being charged. She is on probation for two years, must complete 240 hours of community work and must reimburse $4,015 to victims.
Recent LFD fire calls
The Laval Fire Dept. was called upon to provide assistance at a fire that broke out at a well-known health spa located on Curé Labelle Blvd. just north of Laval’s territory along Route 117 in Rosemère.
LFD firefighters were asked to assist firefighters from Blainville, Sainte-Thérèse and Boisbriand at Le Finlandais during the early morning of June 3.
The source of the blaze is believed to have been a Canada Goose that collided with overhead electrical wiring and then plummeted onto the roof of the spa, sparking a fire.
An arsonist is believed to be responsible for a fire that broke out in the early morning hours on June 3 at a home on Edmond St. in Fabreville near the corner of Dagenais Blvd.
A hedge as well as a vehicle were set on fire, after which the flames spread to a house. In the end, the firefighters were able to prevent the flames from spreading over the roof to the rest of the dwelling.
A fire that broke out on June 7 at a home on Louis St. in Chomedey did extensive damage. An image furnished by the Association des Pompiers de Laval showed the one-storey home in a heavily-damaged state. The LFD didn’t furnish any additional information as to the monetary value of the damage.
Two homeless after fire on Galarneau St. in Sainte-Rose
A fire on May 26 at a home on Galarneau St. south of de la Renaissance Blvd. in Sainte-Rose left two residents homeless temporarily. The blaze, called in to 9-1-1 around 8:55 pm, is tentatively being blamed on a piece of ventilation equipment that malfunctioned. A total of 22 firefighters in six units responded.
MATTHEW DALDALIAN
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
matt.newsfirst@gmail.com
On a bright Saturday afternoon in Laval, while many were out running errands or soaking up the sun, a group of about 15 people had other plans.
Gathered outside the Le Berger Blanc facility, the city-contracted animal shelter and control service, they protested what they described as systemic failings in the city’s animal adoption services.
Many were longtime pet owners, holding handwritten signs that read “Cages too small,” “Adoption fees too high,” and “Lack of transparency.”
Protest
The protest took place on a patch of grass facing the fenced-in shelter building, where dogs sometimes meet potential adopters. Protestors raised concerns not only about the visible infrastructure—like the limited outdoor space for animals—but also about what they claim happens behind closed doors. “I would like them to have a better way of operating,” said Any Vézina, a beneficiary attendant and pet owner.
She began following the shelter closely after adopting a cat that showed signs of distress. The experience raised questions for her about whether animals receive sufficient care before being placed with new families. The June 7 protest marked a continuation of long-standing public concern over Le Berger Blanc’s operations.
The shelter, which operates as a for-profit company, has previously been the subject of investigative reporting, including a 2011 exposé by Radio-Canada that alleged inhumane euthanasia practices. Since 2016, Le Berger Blanc has held the city contract to manage animal control and adoption services in Laval.
Concerns
Protestors cited high fees, short holding times, and minimal transparency as central issues. Vézina cited her experience with Le Berger Blanc as an example of adoption costs running high as well.
“Quite simply, they don’t prioritize the animal or the adoption of the animal. They prioritize the income they’re going to make,” she claimed. Municipal Councillor Louise Lortie of the Marc-Aurèle-Fortin borough was among those who visited the demonstrators. Lortie, a member of party Parti Laval, said she has received numerous complaints from across the city.
“There are people who tell us that they’re not satisfied,” she said. One Laval resident told her that prices for dogs ranged between $600 and $1,200—information that, according to Lortie, “really surprised” city officials when she brought it up during a recent meeting. Lortie added that available data on euthanasia at Le Berger Blanc remains limited.
She said that for one year, the city was given data showing an average of 135 cats euthanized annually, although other figures have not been disclosed. “We haven’t been able to get those numbers,” she said. She also criticized the shelter’s process of bringing out animals for viewing rather than allowing visitors to walk through adoption areas themselves—information which was relayed from a constituent.
City response
While protestors are calling for stronger oversight, the City of Laval insists it already has rigorous controls in place. In an emailed statement, city spokesperson Carolanne L. Gagnon wrote that the city conducts regular audits by an independent veterinarian and that “Berger Blanc is meeting the obligations outlined in its contract.”
She also stated that each animal is examined by a vet and that euthanasia is only used as a last resort. Gagnon acknowledged some complaints had been received but said they mostly concerned customer service.
“No complaint received to date has revealed any failure regarding animal welfare or unjustified euthanasia,” she wrote. Vézina also shared her view that, despite Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food rules requiring outdoor enclosures for dogs, the existing spaces at Le Berger Blanc seemed inadequate or underused to her.
Best practice
While the protest targeted concerns about euthanasia, adoption practices, and transparency at Berger Blanc, some experts say the broader conversation should focus on what ethical animal services look like—regardless of the provider. Sophie Gaillard, director of animal advocacy and legal affairs at the Montreal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), could not speak on Le Berger Blanc’s case specifically, but outlined what responsible animal care in shelters should look like.
Gaillard said animal services should be either publicly run by the municipality or managed by a nonprofit focused on animal protection. “Animal services is not a profitable activity. If an entity is making profit out of animal services, that already is a red flag in and of itself,” she said.
According to Gaillard, for-profit models may struggle to maintain standards because the cost of providing proper care is high. “Animals need housing, food, veterinary care, sometimes expensive medical or behavioral treatment,” she said. “We’ve never been able to turn a profit at the SPCA.”
She added that ethical shelters invest in longterm solutions like sterilization programs, community partnerships, and enrichment activities for animals. For Vézina, who said she plans to bring a petition to Quebec City, the issue isn’t going away. “They are sentient beings… just like us humans. The only difference is, they don’t have a voice— but we do.” Berger Blanc was contacted for comment but did not respond in time for publication.
For a while at least at the Laval Firemen’s Festival outside Collège Montmorency on May 31, things were going quite smoothly at the outset.
People were arriving, acrobats were drawing enthusiastic oohs and aahs from a growing crowd, and the firefighters themselves were getting into the swing of what seemed like a promising day.
Then came the rain. Not a lot, mind you. But just enough to drive off at least a few of the hundreds of moms, dads and kids who arrived early to see firsthand several dozen firetrucks and other emergency vehicles on parade.
They ranged from vintage pumpers that had seen better days, to shining new high-tech and high-reach ladder trucks in service with fire departments all over the Montreal region.
The festival is a mainstay on the City of Laval’s annual calendar of family-oriented activities and traditionally marks the beginning of summer in Laval each year.
This year’s parade, which started in the east and wound its way along de la Concorde Blvd. before arriving at the college campus, appeared to draw a record number of fire departments as well as collectors of vintage fire vehicles – including two reps from an organization based in Watertown NY, about 50 kilometres south of Kingston ON.
Dave Hall and Tim Jones made the three-and-a-half-hour trip to Laval through Ontario along Highway 401 in a 1923 Ford Model T fire truck, notwithstanding the loud backfiring and foggy diesel fumes the vintage yet still reliable vehicle spewed out along the way.
Seems that Ford Model T’s weren’t conceived to travel at modern highway speeds. “It overheated from going so slow,” said Hall, a retired fireman with 50 years experience, who still serves with a volunteer firefighting service in his hometown.
They attend similar vintage fire truck gatherings all over the U.S. and Canada throughout the year. Some forthcoming events on their schedule are in Michigan as well as in Kansas.
This was their fourth time at the Laval Firemen’s Festival. However, according to Hall, the event in Laval is the biggest they go to anywhere in Canada or the USA.
Quebec-based Transport Robert, one of the continent’s largest providers of truck transportation logistics, sent along several vintage fire trucks that are part of a collection of heavy-duty vehicles started by former company president Claude Robert.
One of them, a yellow, late 1950s American-LaFrance pumper with an open canopy, was the sort of classic fire truck that set children of a certain generation to dreaming romantically of one day becoming firefighters themselves.
MATTHEW DALDALIAN
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
matt.newsfirst@gmail.com
Carlos Leitão has returned to elected office, this time as the new federal MP for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin. The former Quebec finance minister and long-time economist now represents Laval’s neighbourhoods of Auteuil and Sainte-Rose, and parts of Fabreville and Vimont on Parliament Hill.
“There are a number of mixed feelings,” said Leitão. “Obviously I’m very, very proud and very, very happy to have been elected with a nice majority.”
Voter shift
Leitão said he noticed a shift in votes on the ground during the campaign. “The biggest issue on the minds of citizens in March and April was the trade war with the United States,” he said, in reference to what he thought pushed voters to choose the Liberal party.
That economic uncertainty—sparked by the return of tariffs under a second Trump presidency—prompted Leitão’s return to federal politics. “I felt I had a role to play,” Leitão said. Now in office, Leitão has taken on additional responsibilities as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, Science and Innovation, Mélanie Joly.
Leitão said his new federal role could have meaningful local impacts, particularly given Laval’s strong base of small and mid-sized industrial businesses. With many companies involved in metal fabrication, he noted that economic uncertainty has left some owners and workers feeling uneasy about the future.
His win comes as the federal Liberals, now under the leadership of Prime Minister Mark Carney, continue to govern in a minority. Carney has prioritized economic stabilization and a pivot away from U.S. trade dependence — themes that closely align with Leitão’s economic platform. Budget discussions and trade diversification efforts are expected to dominate the coming months in Ottawa, particularly as the new cabinet begins implementing its long-term industrial strategy.
First actions
He said one of his first actions in the new role was meeting with steel industry executives. “For the steel industry, 50% tariffs is the end. There’s no adapting. It just shuts off the U.S. market,” Leitão said.
With the federal government shifting its focus to economic resilience, Leitão described two major initiatives that could eventually benefit Laval. “One is defence spending. We are going to massively increase defence spending and use that as a lever to accelerate economic growth,” he said. “If we’re going to buy more defence equipment material, we want that equipment to be made in Canada, so we can’t just allow the steel industry to whittle away.”
The other: accelerating infrastructure projects of national importance. Leitão emphasized that such investments could directly benefit Laval, where local companies involved in construction and manufacturing not only create jobs but also generate important tax revenue for the city.
Locally, Leitão said the dominant concern among constituents — after the economy — was housing. “Prices went up too fast. It’s very expensive to buy a house. It’s very expensive to rent an apartment,” he said. Public transit was another key issue, especially improving frequency on the Exo commuter train and exploring options like a Laval-based REM or other light rail alternatives.
Representing riding
As for how he intends to represent a riding that’s majority francophone, Leitão said his previous experience on both sides of the linguistic divide—as a former MNA in the West Island of Montreal and now MP in a francophone district—gives him perspective. “If I can somehow provide some sort of a bridge between the two so we can all move forward, then I think I would have succeeded,” he said.
Beyond his legislative work, Leitão pointed to some of the lesser-known aspects of being a federal MP—namely, helping residents navigate federal systems like immigration and taxation. He said his office often assists people who struggle to get in touch with government departments, noting that MPs can help “get a human being on the other side of the line” when online systems fall short.
After years in Quebec’s National Assembly, Leitão said the adjustment to Ottawa is ongoing. “It’s been a quick three or four weeks of intensive learning,” he said, adding that his office in Parliament only became available last week.
The City of Laval and its unionized police officers signed a new collective agreement last week, leading Mayor Stéphane Boyer to declare himself highly satisfied by the outcome.
The agreement was ratified by 78 per cent of the police brotherhood’s members. It includes a provision to transfer some administrative duties to civilian staff, resulting in lower costs for the city.
The new agreement includes an overall 22.2 per cent salary increase over five years. It will also provide for the deployment of police cadets to manage traffic, representing another cost-saving measure.
“What we were looking for was greater efficiency and more officers on the streets,” said Mayor Stéphane Boyer, adding that the agreement allows the city to achieve that. “We’re really pleased with the outcome, and I think it’s going to be a win-win, both for the officers and for the public.”
“The new contract offers working conditions that reflect the growing responsibilities of our officers, who work in a complex environment and are facing an evolving and increasingly sophisticated criminal landscape,” said union president Sylvain Tardif. The agreement is in effect retroactively from Jan. 1, 2024 until Dec. 31, 2028.
Laval Firemen’s Footrace takes in a record $100,000 in donations
For its 13th annual run, the Laval Firemen’s Footrace (Course des pompiers) on Sunday June 1 had a record number of enrolled participants. Nearly 12,000 runners of both sexes and of all ages took part in the event, which drew 2,800 more people than last year.
The participants raised $102,000 for the Fondation des pompiers du Québec. The sum was expected to grow in the following days as additional donations came in.
William Simon took first place in the marathon in the men’s category with an impressive time of 2 hours, 39 minutes and 55 seconds. For the second year, Florence Thibodeau was the first woman to cross the finish line after 3 hours, 4 minutes and 56 seconds.
In the half-marathon, Victor Boisvert finished in 1 hour, 13 minutes and 53 seconds, while Joëlle White finished in 1 hour, 25 minutes and four seconds. (It was the second consecutive win for Joëlle White in her category.) The event also included 10, 5, 2.5 and 1-kilometre segments.
Laval scales up efforts to recuperate funds through BIEL agency
The City of Laval’s Bureau de l’intégrité et de l’éthique de Laval (BIEL) recently released an overview report of its activities for the year 2024, maintaining that progress was made to render the city’s administration more transparent, while also preventing corrupt practices from taking root.
Pierre Brochet, director of the Laval Police Dept. which is mandated to run the BIEL, said the agency was called upon more than ever to offer advice and make recommendations to city employees dealing with issues involving ethical dilemmas
“In 2024, the BIEL’s integrity was solicited more than ever,” he said. “The increase in requests, notices and recommendations bears witness to the importance of the role it plays in ethics and integrity for the members of the City of Laval’s staff.
“This enduring culture of integrity makes the BIEL something to look up to in this regard,” added Brochet. “On several occasions, it was invited to share its expertise with the academic milieu as well as other organizations internationally. This goes beyond our borders, reflecting the excellence of our practices and our leadership in matters of organization integrity.”
According to the 2024 report, the BIEL carried out several integrity audits last year involving sub-contractors of services to the municipality, including five investigations currently still underway. Thirteen interventions were made with respect to seven municipal infrastructure projects.
In addition to its investigative work, the BIEL also continued efforts last year to recuperate funds believed to have been misappropriated to sub-contractors in past years. According to the BIEL’s report, the city reclaimed $1.7 million in 2024, bringing the total to $60 million. As well, three civil suits remain underway, representing $17 million in funds which might potentially also be recuperated.
Laval mayor Stéphane Boyer pledged during the June 3 meeting of Laval city council to take whatever action is possible to prevent the demolition of an early 20th century heritage house located on du Mont-Royal Street in the city’s Vieux Sainte-Rose neighborhood.
A petition was started by Sainte-Rose city councillor Flavia Alexandra Novac opposing the redevelopment of the house and land – dating from as early as 1911 and vacant since last November – into a rental project with as many as two dozen individual units.
‘Why here?’
During the public question period, Louise Labrie, a concerned resident, asked the mayor why the city approved a high-density project like this on a narrow street where there are pre-existing traffic issues.
“Did you consider that the number of renters doesn’t fit in on a quiet street with beautiful old homes and mature trees?” said Labrie.
Another resident pointed out that there are close to a dozen heritage properties on du Mont-Royal St., and Laval’s current urban planning and zoning regulations allow developers to demolish heritage houses and sub-divide the land into smaller units.
Right construction date?
Councillor Novac maintained that the property in question actually consists of eight smaller lots, although somehow the city failed to accord it with a heritage property designation.
According to one of the residents, the date of the house’s construction was incorrectly recorded in city property records as 1937, which may have prevented it from being accorded a protected status.
Novac tabled a motion for the city administration to conduct a new inventory of heritage homes built in Vieux Sainte-Rose before 1940, which are not yet on the City of Laval’s official list, and that they be protected from demolition like those already safeguarded by the city.
Will look into it, says Boyer
While maintaining that Laval has made great strides in recent years to safeguard the heritage homes and properties on its territory, Mayor Boyer said he agreed with the residents that there is something not right about the situation involving 133 du Mont-Royal St.
“Was there an oversight by the firm that conducted the heritage inventory?” he asked, referring to an outsourced contractor that was hired by the city to create an inventory of properties that should be protected.
“Is there something that should be corrected? We will definitely be looking into it. I agree with you that it’s a very beautiful home on a very beautiful piece of land next to a sector that’s already protected for heritage value. And so certainly, if there is something we can do legally to protect the house we will do it.”
Injunction may be issued
He said the city will be looking into the possibility of obtaining a 30-day injunction ordering the developer to cease all activity on this particular project, particularly the demolition, which would allow a consultant working for the city to study the property’s heritage value.
The mayor said he was as surprised as anyone to find out that such a large number of individual units could be built on that particular property. “So, we will definitely be looking into whether there is a way to adjust the zoning for the sector where you live,” he told the residents.
Gay sex on de Lisbonne
One of the City of Laval’s “roads less traveled,” boulevard de Lisbonne, which is an unpaved and unimproved road in the Fabreville/Sainte-Rose area, was the suject of complaints from some local residents.
They maintain that, apart from the road’s dilapidated state, it has also become a popular gathering place for gay men seeking out anonymous sex.
During the June 3 meeting’s question period, several residents as well as the city councillor for the area acknowledged that a spot on de Lisbonne near the end of the gravel has become well-known for gay sex acts openly taking place.
Children and families
“All year long, day and night, homosexuals gather to have man-to-man sexual relations in public,” said one woman, noting that the activity often takes place in full view of families with children who are clients of an outdoor activities camp located at the end of the road.
She claimed the City of Laval and the Laval Police are “perfectly aware” of what’s going on, “but do nothing at all” to intervene. At the same time, she noted that boulevard de Lisbonne has been described as the worst street in Laval for roadway maintenance, with some potholes nearly two feet deep.
‘In front of you’
A spokesman for the Centre de Golf Fabreville, which is located on a large tract of land at the corner of de Lisbonne and boulevard Sainte-Rose, said de Lisbonne has become a place for “meet-ups” and prostitution by “grown men who give each other fellation, who engage in sexual activities just like that – in front of you.”
Parti Laval city councillor for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin Louise Lortie said she had personally witnessed sex acts being committed on de Lisbonne.
“I’m telling you now frankly, it’s disgusting,” she said emphatically, while adding that the last time she was there in her car, she found herself being followed afterwards “as if to let me know that I had no business being there.”
The current issue of the Laval News, volume 33-12, published on June 11th, 2025.
Covering Laval local news, politics, and sports.
(Click on the image to read the paper.)
The Laval Police Dept. says it is initiating steps to deal with a rise in violent crime among youths as the summer season is set to begin while minors are increasingly becoming mixed up in crimes involving the use of firearms.
According to data released by the LPD earlier this week, more than 40 per cent of armed violence cases in the first quarter of 2025 involved minors between the ages of 14 and 17.
From Jan. 1 last year to March 31 in 2025, 20 per cent of people arrested or suspected in cases of firearms-related incidents were minors, with most of these cases involving criminal gangs.
After noting a rise in firearm discharges last year when there were 25 such incidents, the LPD now reports a moderate decrease in the first four months of 2025.
Since the end of March, there were four firearms discharge incidents, compared to six during the same period a year earlier.
“Over the past few years, our police department has made the fight against gun-related urban violence a priority, in response to a marked upsurge in events in Laval,” said Karine Ménard, the LPD’s deputy director, who is in charge of criminal investigations.
A former day camp councillor has been sentenced in Laval to two years of home confinement for deceiving a teenager and sexually assaulting two young men while they were intoxicated.
Alexis Plourde-Dinelle had become friends with his victims in their early teens.
The 33-year-old Montrealer pleaded guilty on May 12 at the Laval courthouse to two counts of sexual assault and one of luring.
He worked with young people for years. He was a day camp counselor in Mauricie, and worked at a Maison des jeunes in Quebec’s Estrie region.
At the end of his home confinement sentence, Plourde-Dinelle will be placed on probation for three years, including two years with supervision.
Man accused of father’s premeditated murder in Laval
A young man has been charged with the premeditated murder of his 71-year-old father in Laval, marking the city’s first homicide of the year.
Facing a charge of first-degree murder, 26-year-old Thomas Erik Eyelom appeared in court last week.
First-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence with no eligibility for parole for 25 years upon conviction.
According to the Laval Police, the body of the 71-year-old was discovered at his residence on Dumouchel Street in Chomedey by a family member.
The LPD initially treated it as a “suspicious death.” The LPD’s Crimes Against Persons Unit took charge of the case to try to clarify the cause and circumstances of death.
A scene analysis, conducted in collaboration with the LPD’s forensic identification squad and the forensic sciences and legal medicine laboratory, as well as information gathered by the LPD’s crimes against persons squad, allowed investigators to determine that the case was murder, said a spokesperson for the LPD.
Family of three homeless after electrical fire in Duvernay
A family of three from Duvernay is temporarily homeless after a fire believed to be caused by a freak electrical accident seriously damaged their home on du Genévrier St. around noon on May 12.
Laval Fire Dept. investigators suspect that high winds around half past noon that day may have damaged aluminum cladding on the house, bringing it into contact with an electrical power line.
Current from the line may have flowed into metal rain gutters outside the house, spreading in and setting off a fire, according to the LFD.
Damage was estimated at $100,000, with an additional $40,000 in damages to interior furnishings.
Driver in deadly 2019 Laval autoroute truck crash gets 10-year sentence
The truck driver found responsible for the August 2019 fiery multi-vehicle pile-up on Autoroute 440 near the A-15 in Laval which killed four people has been sentenced to a decade in prison.
On Aug. 5, 2019, Jagmeet Grewal was driving a transport truck and a 53-foot trailer without a valid license, when he crashed into stopped traffic as he was travelling around 100 km/h, causing a major fire, while trapping some occupants in their cars.
The crash killed Robert Tanguay-Plante, Sylvain Pouliot, Michèle Bernier and Gilles Marsolais, while injuring 15 others.
Surveillance camera images used in a subsequent investigation showed him not holding the steering wheel leading up to the crash.
Grewal’s license was also suspended at the time of the crash, and he was convicted three times for impaired driving in the 1990s
“Innocent victims that were at the wrong place at the wrong time perished and others were severely injured and are still carrying their pain and sufferings,” Superior Court Justice Yanick Laramée wrote in a ruling prior to imposing the sentence.
Laval mall subject of anti-theft operation
MATTHEW DALDALIAN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Carrefour Laval was at the center of a significant national anti-shoplifting operation last week, as law enforcement and retail security teams joined forces to combat rising retail theft across Canada.
The two-day initiative, conducted on May 15 and 16, was part of a broader campaign led by the Retail Council of Canada (RCC), in collaboration with the Service de police de Laval (SPL) and CF Carrefour Laval. Similar “Blitz” operations were carried out in shopping centers nationwide between May 2 and 19.
Retail theft has become a pressing issue, with Canadian businesses reporting losses exceeding $9 billion in 2024. “Retailers can’t tackle this growing issue alone. It requires both staffing and effective tools,” said Michel Rochette, president of the RCC’s Quebec division.
“Retailers are hit twice: they suffer direct financial losses and risk losing their customers’ trust—not to mention the security concerns for everyone in the store. Retail crime needs to become a true public priority.”
During the operation, Laval police officers were deployed during peak hours to monitor and intervene directly with offenders, working alongside mall security to increase visibility and deter repeat offenses. “Store security is one of our key priorities,” said SPL spokesperson Sgt. Laurent Arsenault.
“Operations like this allow us to act quickly with offenders, reassure the public, and reaffirm our commitment to Laval’s business community. We’re proud to take part in this initiative, which serves as a model for collaboration.”
The SPL’s Azimut unit—a specialized squad trained to intervene in commercial areas— was involved in a similar blitz at Carrefour Laval in December 2024, during which several arrests were made. The RCC emphasized that the campaign isn’t just about enforcement. The initiative also aims to raise public awareness about the real cost of shoplifting.
“Blitz” operations are designed to deliver concentrated results within a short time frame by deploying officers and security staff during strategic hours to focus on high-risk periods and known offenders. Carrefour Laval was selected due to its status as a major commercial hub in Quebec and its history of cooperation with authorities.
The RCC described the center as a “nerve center of retail activity.” The recent operation also comes weeks after an armed robbery at a jewelry store inside Carrefour Laval on March 31. While no injuries were reported and the suspect remains at large, the incident reflects the broader security challenges facing one of Quebec’s busiest malls. A vehicle from the SPL’s Azimut unit, parked outside Carrefour Laval during the two-day anti-theft operation on May 16.
