Cannabis fee cheap in Osoyoos
Chelsea Powrie - Mar 21, 2019 - Biz Releases

File photo: Colton Davies

Potential cannabis retail businesses in Osoyoos will pay $500 for a business licence, making it one of the cheaper places in the South Okanagan to operate such a store.

Osoyoos council voted Monday to pass the new bylaw. It had already been through three readings and much discussion, during which some council members objected to the fee on the grounds that it is much higher than a standard liquor store license, which they viewed as comparable.

“That comes across as a sin tax. It’s not a cost recovery. It doesn’t appear to me to be a cost recovery,” councillor Brian Harvey said at a December meeting. “I support the notion of changing the license on a cost-recovery basis.”

It’s still a lot less than businesses further north will be paying. In Penticton, it costs a staggering $2,500 to even apply for a cannabis business license, with a $5,000 license fee on top of that. In Summerland, the application is $1,500 with a $400 license fee on top.

Though Osoyoos council had no members of the public stand up to speak either for or against the bylaw during a pre-determined public response period at Monday’s meeting, they did receive a letter that voiced concerns.

“I fail to appreciate the business logic in mandating such an onerous fee, five times higher than for liquor sales businesses. Through Canadian and provincial legislation, the same type of access restrictions (age and personal identification) apply to liquor sales and cannabis sales, so I fail to see why council would propose a much greater restriction and financial requirement for cannabis sales,” Osoyoos resident Trevor Gambell said.

The bylaw change passed Monday without discussion among council members.


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