Skip to content

B.C. cannabis workers may be barred from U.S.

B.C.’s solicitor general says he’s extremely concerned that the United States might bar provincial government employees from travelling across the American border because they work in the province’s new legal cannabis branch.
CPT139500950.jpg
B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth

B.C.’s solicitor general says he’s extremely concerned that the United States might bar provincial government employees from travelling across the American border because they work in the province’s new legal cannabis branch.

Mike Farnworth said on Monday he’s aware of a threat by U.S. border officials to deny entry to anyone involved in Canada’s marijuana industry, which will become legal on Oct. 17.

That’s raised the risk that hundreds of B.C. government employees could find themselves unable to travel to the United States because they staff the new public cannabis retail stores and distribution branch, including front-line workers, managers and ministry officials. The first B.C. government store, in Kamloops, will open on the day of federal legalization.

“We’ve been making it clear to the federal government that this is a serious issue,” Farnworth said. He called it an “unintended consequence” of Canada’s legalization. “We as a province want to make sure that British Columbians understand what it means to cross the border, and to understand the risks, particularly with the Trump administration in power.”

One potential workaround for the B.C. government could be to drop the cannabis name from its new stores, thereby providing some cover for employees who could claim they work for the provincial liquor branch. Farnworth would not confirm that particular tactic was under consideration, but said: “We’re looking at what the options are to deal with this.”

Although Canada will legalize marijuana on Oct. 17, it remains illegal in the U.S. and anyone trying to cross the border who is involved in the “sale, possession, production and distribution of marijuana” could be denied entry, fined or detained, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office said on Monday.

“As marijuana remains federally prohibited in the U.S., working in or facilitating the proliferation of the legal marijuana industry in U.S. states where it is deemed legal or Canada may affect a foreign national’s admissibility to the United States,” the U.S. border agency said in a statement.

One of the U.S. border agency’s top officials told news site Politco that if anyone admitted to border officials they have used marijuana in the past, or work in the business in Canada, they would not be allowed entry. Border agents routinely ask travellers what they do for a living. “If you work for the industry, that is grounds for inadmissibility,” Todd Owen, executive assistant commissioner for the border service’s office of field operations, told Politico.

The border agency’s comments are bad news for Canada, said Len Sanders, an immigration lawyer in Blaine, Washington. Already, Canadians who invest in cannabis-related businesses have found themselves turned back at the U.S. border.

“This is a worst-case scenario for Canadians,” said Sanders. “I’ve been saying the same warnings for the last two years. Canadians have to be very careful.”

B.C. government employees who work in cannabis retail stores will be unionized public servants. The government intends to expand the cannabis-only retail stores in coming months, as well as license privately-run stores.

“Definitely, our members working in government cannabis stores could be impacted and we’ve been working with the employer to make sure they are aware of that,” said Danielle Marchand, a spokesperson for the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union.

Refusing to answer a question about your profession will almost certainly get you turned back by border officials, Sanders said. But lying about your job or attempting to skirt the truth about connections to the cannabis industry could land you a lifetime ban, he said.