Whereas only the federal and provincial governments are receiving tax revenue from the recently legalized sale of recreational cannabis, despite local governments encountering increased costs of the associated implementation; And whereas UBCM endorsed a resolution 2018-SR1 calling for a principled approach to guide the negotiation of a cannabis excise tax revenue sharing agreement with the Government of British Columbia, and recommending that BC local governments receive 40 of the projected excise tax revenue in the short term, which has not received any response from the Province: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the provincial government to expedite a fair provincial-local government excise tax revenue sharing agreement regarding the sale of recreational cannabis.
Ministry of Finance The sale of cannabis is not expected to generate substantial revenue for the Province in the early years of legalization, as there are significant costs associated with setting up and implementing the provincial regulatory framework. So far, the Province has received roughly 5 million dollars in federal excise duty payments on cannabis All legal cannabis transactions up to March 31, 2019. The Province will continue to work with and listen to local governments and First Nation communities to understand both the potential cost pressures and savings associated with legalization as this industry continues to develop. As part of that work, the Province has been working with UBCM as part of BCs Joint Committee on Cannabis Regulation.