Retail cannabis could have significant financial impact in Kamloops

A view from the inside of the B.C. Cannabis Store. (SHELBY THEVENOT / iNFOnews.ca)

November 27, 2018 - 5:00 PM

KAMLOOPS - The retail cannabis industry could add up to $4.3 million into the Kamloops economy every year for the next five years, according to a study presented at city council today.

The economic development arm of Kamloops teamed up with an external firm to complete a study on the city's economy, including the economic impacts of the retail cannabis sector.

Dr. Mauricio Zelaya stood before council today, Nov. 27, to present the study done by Venture Kamloops and Ernst and Young LLP that reviewed the past, present, and projected economic future of Kamloops. The study predicts that up to 10 dispensaries could open in Kamloops, adding 36 new jobs within the next five years.

The conservative estimates from the study predict a $4.3 million per year influx from retail operations in Kamloops as part of a $5.7 million annual output.

"We may need a further study to see what those numbers might mean," Zelaya said.

He admits that permits were not considered in this study.

Jim Anderson, executive director of Venture Kamloops said finding the numbers was a challenge.

"We're working with something that hasn't happened before, in my lifetime anyway, where something that was illegal has now become legal and immediately moved to the retail market."

Anderson notes that these numbers are difficult to predict accurately in a city the size of Kamloops.

"Five years from now we will do another one of these we will have a wealth of information and we will be able to make all sorts of very accurate projections but right now we just don't."

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