Is B.C.’s anti-extortion campaign working?

It’s been a little over a week since B.C. rolled out its new taxpayer-funded anti-extortion campaign, and in one local jurisdiction, police say it’s hard to tell if it’s actually making a difference.

The 60-day extortion awareness campaign launched by the province and BC Crime Stoppers shares information about recognizing and reporting extortion threats, which the government believes will help individuals, business owners, and families stay safe and informed.

It also launched a tip line for reporting threats.

But in Surrey, where most of the extortion reports are coming from, police say they can’t tell whether the $100,000 campaign is a success.

“I’m not aware of any increases in reporting to any police services directly attributed to the Crime Stoppers campaign,” Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said on Monday. “We only know if someone phones us and they tell us that they’re calling because of the campaign.”

On Friday, the Surrey Police Service explained that there had been a significant spike in reported extortion threats targeting the South Asian community in the last month.

Just a day prior, two suspects were arrested for careless discharge of a firearm and arson, in relation to extortion incidents last year in Surrey. BC RCMP Chief Supt. Duncan Pound said at the time that investigations take time, and the announcement of the arrests served largely to reassure the community and encourage victims to continue reporting the threats.

Houghton says that while there’s no uptick in reports of threats since last week, it doesn’t mean the problem is going away, either.

“We’ve had 19 reports of extortion to Surrey Police Service so far in 2025, and all of them are at various stages of investigation,” he explained.

The anti-extortion campaign runs through August. It is being delivered in both English and Punjabi, and includes advertisements on radio, podcasts, Spotify, social media, and television.