Vancouver Island's third BC Cannabis Store officially opened in Port Alberni Wednesday.

The government-run shop opened its doors at the Pacific Rim Shopping Centre at 3555 Johnston Rd. at 10 a.m.

The store opened with a staff of 12 employees and offers approximately 60 different strains of dried flower products along with all the standard BC Cannabis Store stock.

The store's regular operating hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

The province plans to open three more island stores in the coming months. One location in Parksville is slated to open at 826 Island Hwy. W in the winter or spring, according to the BC Liquor and Cannabis Distribution Branch (BCLDB).

Meanwhile, two BC Cannabis Store locations are slated to open in Nanaimo with one storefront to open in the spring and a second location to open in a yet-to-be constructed building with no opening date established yet.

Port Alberni's BC Cannabis Store opens one week after Courtenay's government-run shop opened its doors, and nearly one year after the RCMP shut down a number of unlicensed private cannabis retailers in the town.

On Oct. 18, 2018, the day after cannabis was legalized across the country, Mounties raided and ticketed two unlicensed marijuana dispensaries in Port Alberni.

In a news release at the time, the RCMP said they were enforcing the Cannabis Control and Licensing Act on the first day it came into effect at the town's Cannabis Club and Leaf Compassion dispensaries.