Kamloops city staff say five more private cannabis retail stores have been approved in principle for a sales license.

Business license inspector Dave Jones says those five stores are spread on the North and South shores, and says the timeline is now in the hand of those business owners.

“Obviously the provincial government has taken a little heat for being too slow… the City of Kamloops has been informed five of the stores in Kamloops have now been given approval in principle. I would suspect down the road we’ll have some more, but before the end of 2019 we’ll have five additional stores open.”

“Some of them are going through a building permit stage to do some renovations, but five more new ones have been approved by the province to open up. Now the timeline is in their hands, so for staff if they can get their stores open, the sooner the better, for Kamloops and the clients they serve.”

The only private retail store open right now is The Shore Cannabiz Shop on Tranquille Road, which opened nearly six month ago.

Meanwhile, 10 private cannabis stores in Kamloops are continuing to wait for a license.