City of Vancouver quadruples fines for unlicensed businesses

Businesses operating without a license in the city of Vancouver could be fined as much as $1,000 under new rules approved by council Wednesday.

Councillors voted in favour of a report that recommends quadrupling the current fine of $250 in an effort to crack down on unlicensed businesses or businesses that aren't following their licence conditions.

"What we've seen through different a venues of information is that businesses are not necessarily aware or they don't want to follow the rules," said Andrea Toma, the city of Vancouver's chief licensing inspector.

Toma said the goal is to change the behaviour of bad business operators.

"Sometimes, when you hurt them in the pocketbook you get more of an incentive to comply."

The move comes seven months after the city ordered all unlicensed marijuana shops to close their doors.

Since enforcement began in April 2016, the city has issued 1001 violation tickets to pot shops operating without a licence.

The City of Vancouver voted to implement a system to license marijuana shops in June 2015. Under the bylaw, shops can pay a $30,000 fee to be licensed as long as they are that are not within 300 metres of a community centre, school or other pot shop.

Effectiveness of ticketing pot shops

While city council unanimously voted in favour of the increased fines, one councillor is questioning how effective the city's tactics have been in cracking down on illegal pot shops.

The city has 21 bylaw inspectors and currently two are dedicated to the enforcement of pot shops.

NPA councillor Melissa De Genova said she believes that's not enough.

"We're spreading our staff very thin and what I heard yesterday is that these tickets are not making a dent," said De Genova.

"Right now, less than a quarter of those fines are actually being paid.  And now we're spending staff time — and time is money — having our staff go through [the] process of putting those outstanding tickets in collections."

De Genova said she doesn't believe the increased fines will be enough of a deterrent for some marijuana shops operating without licences.

Toma confirmed only 250 of the 1001 tickets have been paid so far, but said the city issues three notices before it takes further action.

"After the third notice, if there's no payment it goes to collections and potential prosecution," said Toma.

"We're looking for compliance. At the end of the day that's what we want: we want the [unlicensed] stores to close."