Barrie robbery linked to crime ring believed to be behind series of bank heists
A major multi-jurisdictional police investigation into a string of armed bank robberies across southern Ontario, including one that happened in Barrie, has resulted in five arrests.
The case, dubbed Project Opal, brought together several police services, including Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), after a rash of eight robberies took place between December 2022 and March 2024.
Police say each robbery followed a similar pattern with two or three masked suspects entering the bank shortly before closing time, and at least one carried a handgun.
Investigators believe the same group is responsible for more than $2 million in combined losses across all eight banks. The stolen funds have not been recovered.
In several of the later robberies, police say bank employees were tied up, including a robbery at the Ontario Educational Credit Union Ltd. on Alliance Boulevard in Barrie in November 2023.
At that time, Barrie police said two men with their faces covered burst into the credit union armed with guns and demanded money. Two employees had been bound while the suspects made off with a 'large amount of Canadian currency.'
Between June and September 2025, police say four suspects were arrested in connection with several robberies.
On Friday, the OPP charged a 33-year-old man from Coburg with two counts of robbery with a restricted or prohibited weapon in relation to robberies in Barrie and Newmarket. He is currently in police custody with a court appearance scheduled for July 8 in Oshawa.
Police say another suspect, a 33-year-old man from Ajax, remains on the run. They encourage anyone with information on his whereabouts not to approach him, 'instead contact police immediately.'
The investigation remains ongoing.
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"Those emails showed that the Applicant invited a junior colleague to share a hotel room with him and also invited that junior colleague to engage in sexual relations with him, to which the junior colleague said no because she only wanted a professional relationship with the Applicant." Last week, the board published a second decision, rejecting Gifford's application for reconsideration of the earlier ruling. Gifford told the CBC he is considering filing an application for judicial review in B.C. Supreme Court, but the cost may be prohibitive. In a statement, the university wouldn't comment on the allegations, citing privacy legislation, but said "terminating employment is not a step we take lightly and, when it happens, is indicative of the serious nature of the concerns raised. "What we can share is that UVic is committed to providing an inclusive and respectful environment in which to work, learn and teach," the university said.
