By Curtis Galbraith

City Hall

City council changes cannabis bylaw regulation, postpones final reading on business license requirement

Nov 16, 2020 | 6:21 PM

Grande Prairie city council has approved an amendment to the part of the Business License Bylaw that covers cannabis retailers.

The change will allow the same business entity to hold more than one cannabis retail license.

Mayor Bill Given says this limit was first put in at the request of business operators to encourage local operations to set up shop rather than what he calls “larger players.”

“We have heard more recently from members of the same industry that it is more of a hassle and really hasn’t served the purpose that industry thought that it might have up front.”

Given cannabis was what he calls “a completely new legal market,” adding, “Nobody was exactly sure how it was going to develop and mature over time. As we see the market mature, I think that it is likely we will see some consolidation with smaller players being bought out by larger players. We’ve also seen some relatively strong homegrown businesses really doing very well.”

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Given says this speaks well of businesses and City Hall that they can change regulations when changes are needed.

New business license discussion postponed

City council has postponed third and final reading of a new bylaw that would require all businesses to have a license.

It will come back to the November 30 council meeting.

Councillor Dylan Bressey says concerns about what information would be collected, and charges that this is a cash grab, have come up.

Council agreed to delete a part of the bylaw that would require applicants to provide any other information an inspector may ask for from time to time.

Mayor Given says the city does not want to use this to generate revenue.

“The goal here is really to generate additional data which will help our (Grande Prairie & District) Chamber of Commerce and our Economic Development department, as well as national and international entrepreneurs who are looking to set up shop in Grande Prairie.”

Given says the data would identify what he calls “gaps in the market and or areas where our market might be underserved.”

Fees are up for more discussion at a City Hall committee meeting scheduled for next Tuesday.