Surrey City Council has finally approved a handful of cannabis stores in BC’s second largest city, more than six years after sales became legal in Canada. The applications now head to the BC government for final approval.

On April 14, the council recommended nine retail cannabis locations to the BC government for approval. The council voted 5-4 on each of the nine applications, with councillors Mandeep Nagra, Rob Stutt, Gordon Hepner, and Mayor Brenda Locke all voting against each location. 

The stores, if they receive final approval from the BC government, will be the first in the city. Surrey City Council first released a proposal for up to 12 cannabis stores in early 2024, approving the plan in April. 

At the time, the city had said it would consider up to two locations for each of its six distinct communities: Whalley/City Centre, Newton, South Surrey, Guildford, Cloverdale, and Fleetwood. Three of those original stores were not included in this round of approvals. 

The nine applications are:

• Burb Cannabis on Croydon Drive
• Dutch Love Cannabis on 24 St
• Dutch Love on 102 Ave
• Imagine Cannabis on King George Boulevard
• Imagine Cannabis Co on 152 St
• 1486965 B.C. Ltd dba Inspired Cannabis on 152 Street
• 1181168 B.C. Ltd dba Inspired Cannabis on Fraser Highway
• R. Basran on Fraser Highway
• 1486965 B.C. Ltd on 150 St

BC currently lists 534 cannabis stores in the province, including 39 BC Cannabis Store locations. 

During the meeting, the COO of a BC cannabis retailer called for the City of Surrey to suspend and review its new cannabis retail licensing process, calling into question some of the city’s processes.

In a letter presented to the city, Chris Grzywacz, the Chief Operating Officer at Seed & Stone, a cannabis retail chain in BC with six locations, calls on Surrey City Council to pause its current licensing process for a handful of retail stores, suggesting that another group of retail chains seems to be the primary beneficiary of the city’s recently-changed cannabis store rules. (Note: This article was edited to correct the number of stores Seed & Stone has in BC from eight to six).

Specifically, Grzywacz’s letter highlights what he says are questionable alignments between the interests of retail chain Inspired Cannabis, such as the removal of a distance criteria from parks and playgrounds and the inclusion of experience in pharmacy operations as part of Surrey’s cannabis retail scoring criteria. The owners of Inspired have such experience, says the letter. 

It also alleges that Imagine Cannabis “shared comments related to what appeared to be internal details of Surrey’s initial cannabis retail framework” at a Surrey Board of Trade (SBOT) cannabis industry event held on March 31, 2023, which were similar to the framework the city announced a year later. 

“The degree of overlap raises questions/concerns that certain industry participants had undue access to, or influence over, the City’s internal decision-making process,” states the letter. 

The letter also states that it’s “a remarkable coincidence” that Inspired Cannabis and another retail chain, Dutch Love, submitted applications in different neighbourhoods, while alleging, with examples, a connection between Inspired, Dutch Love, and another retail chain, Imagine Cannabis. 

“Either it is a remarkable coincidence that they did not compete head on, or there was a coordinated approach by individuals and companies that share a common history to maximize market share in Surrey.”

Inspired, Imagine, and Dutch Love all have two accepted applications, each seeking approval from the city, accounting for half of the twelve locations the city opened for a potential cannabis store.   

Inspired, Imagine, and Dutch Love were not available for comment as of press time. 

Featured image shows an Imagine Cannabis in Delta, BC.

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