Community Wellbeing and Safety


With generous support from the City of Winnipeg, the Province of Manitoba, and the West Broadway Business Improvement Zone, WBCO delivers a range of activities focused on preventing crime, reducing harm, and improving justice and accessibility for all. WBCO programming is prevention focused rather than reactive, believing that supporting one another to avoid or reduce harm is a more effective route to improved public safety.

Safety is a fundamental aspect of our lives, a key determinant of our sense of health and wellbeing. Yet relative comparisons of ‘safety’ are often very different from one person to the next because some of us face much greater risk of harm and victimization than others. Understandably, those of us who have been victimized by crime or a witness to victimization feel a heightened sense of our own safety or lack thereof. Likewise, if one sees or hears about criminal activity or conditions of disorder (public intoxication, neglected children, boarded up buildings, poorly disposed of garbage, etc) on a regular basis, their overall perception of the potential for danger in their lives will be affected. We know that some West Broadway residents are much more vulnerable to criminal activity than others so WBCO prioritizes support for these neighbours in the following projects.

  • West Broadway Resource Guide

    A guide to resources in the West Broadway neighbourhood, created by WBCO and Nine Circles.

  • Safety and Harm Reduction

    West Broadway Community Organization (WBCO), offers strategies and supports for community members experiencing real and perceived dangers associated with unlawful activities. From resource referrals to safety auditing, hosting resident meetings and liaising with partners like West Broadway Bear Clan and the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network, WBCO offers proactive solutions to neighbourhood safety issues.

  • Workshops and Information Sessions

    West Broadway Community Organization (WBCO) hosts numerous workshops throughout the year, many relating to community safety and personal wellbeing.

  • West Broadway Snow Team

    The West Broadway Snow team responds to major snow falls by shoveling neighbourhood bus stops and sidewalks along high-traffic pedestrian corridors. West Broadway’s population is dense and the majority of residents depend exclusively on pedestrian access to local businesses, transit and essential services; the Snow Team tries to make our sidewalks safer.

  • Working with Local Businesses

    West Broadway Community Organization (WBCO) and the West Broadway BIZ, offer support to local businesses through workplace and storefront safety auditing, business-specific workshops, and access to the BIZ ‘Storefront Improvement and Safety Grant.’

  • Active Transportation

    West Broadway Community Organization (WBCO), works with local stakeholders to improve transportation safety and efficiency, in accordance with community priorities as defined in West Broadway’s most recent consultations and planning efforts.

  • Volunteer Community Steward

    The role of the Volunteer Community Steward (VCS) is to work alongside and support the Community Safety Host (CSH) at the Crossways in Common facility to steward a safe environment for both those accessing services in the building, as well as those who arrive in the space seeking services that are not available at the location. This is a role of community connecting.