A cannabis store in Kamloops, BC, opened the city’s first outdoor smoking patio on April 20, 2026.
Taste Cannabis, which has operated in Kamloops since 2022, has fenced off the age-gated space next to the store, restricting access to patrons 19 and older. Only cannabis is allowed to be consumed in the space.
Taste Cannabis’ Operator Cody Savard told Castanet that he was inspired by another cannabis store in BC’s interior that has an outdoor consumption space, Penticton’s Cannabis Cottage, which opened on April 20, 2024, following provincial rule changes earlier that year.
That 2024 rule change allowed existing patio spaces where smoking and vaping of tobacco products are allowed to also permit cannabis use, subject to local bylaws. The change also allowed cannabis stores to advertise their consumption spaces. BC first engaged the public about these proposed changes in 2023 as part of a broader industry outreach initiative.
“We just wanted to create a safe space for our customers to consume cannabis, and in the North Shore we’ve got a lot of development happening, a lot of apartment buildings popping up, and we just wanted to supply the community a safe space to smoke their marijuana,” Savard told CBC Radio’s Daybreak.
The patio will be open for use during the store’s regular business hours, from 10 am to 10 pm seven days a week.
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