Ontario pharmacies are fending off thieves by using time-delay safes to lock out drugs.

About 5,000 pharmacies in the province use time-delay safes to store drugs to combat robberies.

On Wednesday, the Toronto Police Service (TPS), the Ontario College of Pharmacists and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police announced that all pharmacies in Ontario are required to use safes.

The mandate was implemented in March 2023 and applies to Ontario's 4,900+ community pharmacies, police said.

A time-delayed safe has an electronic timer that prevents access until a predetermined period of time has elapsed and the correct combination has been entered. Overriding codes, keys, or other methods to circumvent the time delay is prohibited under this mandate.

Drugs stored in these safes include oxycodone, morphine and codeine.

“…Implementation of time-delayed safes has resulted in an 82 percent decrease in pharmacy robberies by 2024 compared to the same time last year. This achievement highlights the impact of delayed safes and also highlights the importance of collaboration between stakeholders to address issues affecting the safety and well-being of our community,” said Insp. TPS Hold Up Squad employee Joseph Matys announced this at a press conference.

In 2022, TPS began collaborating with local pharmacies and outside partner agencies to spread awareness and safety tips to reduce the number of robberies and victimizations, police said.

In addition to time-delay safes and visible signs, other tips for pharmacies include investing in good surveillance cameras and panic alarms.

Toronto police have seen a drop in pharmacy robberies since then, with just 10 reported this year compared to 60 at the same time last year.

“This is an important milestone to show all thieves that pharmacies are not an easy target for drug theft and that pharmacies are working more closely with local law enforcement to prevent pharmacy robberies,” said James Morrison. , – said the chairman of the OCP board in a statement.

“Working with law enforcement agencies, we've learned that criminals who commit pharmacy robberies rely on getting in and out of pharmacies quickly. The evidence is clear. “It will be a powerful deterrent when criminals know that drugs are stored in a timely safe,” he added.

Police also noted that data from other jurisdictions shows that time-delay safes and signs reduce robberies.

For example, after a similar mandate was implemented in Alberta on July 1, 2022, Edmonton reported zero pharmacy robberies, while Calgary saw an 80 percent drop.

In addition, British Columbia mandated safes in 2015, which contributed to a decrease from 36 burglaries in 2013/2014 to two in 2016/2017.