Uber Eats begins offering cannabis delivery in B.C.

Popular delivery app Uber Eats is branching out into delivering cannabis, with select products available for customers in Metro Vancouver and Victoria starting Tuesday.

The service is launching nine months after the B.C. government expanded delivery operations available to weed retailers and six months after Uber began delivering cannabis in Ontario.

But while the service promises a more convenient way of buying cannabis products, it's unclear what effect — if any — its introduction will have on the provincial market, which still has many unlicensed retailers, industry experts say. 

Klaas Knieriem, general manager of new verticals for Uber Eats, told CBC News the service works in a similar way to ordering food from the app, and that customers will be able to access a menu for a store in their area if it offers delivery.

But there are some restrictions, Knieriem noted.

Due to provincial regulations, the customer has to confirm they're over the age of 19 before ordering. In addition, only provincially certified staff from licensed cannabis retailers — not regular gig drivers — can fulfil the orders.

Once at the person's home, the employee will check the customer for signs of intoxication, such as bloodshot eyes or slurring, and check their ID to make sure they're of legal age and that their name matches the name on the order, according to Uber.

If the employee determines the customer is not sober, they won't give them their order, the company says.

Currently, Uber is working with seven providers in Metro Vancouver and Victoria, but Knieriem says any retailer can sign up to eventually offer delivery. The platform partnered with an existing pot delivery service, Leafly, for the B.C. launch.

Business groups have noted that B.C. needs to expand its cannabis delivery options, and have also asked for municipal red tape around pot stores to be lowered. In the past, the province has introduced "farm-to-gate" delivery operations after repeated requests from cannabis growers.

Competition with unlicensed market

Jaclynn Pehota, executive director of the Retail Cannabis Council of B.C. which represents 160 stores in the province, said it would be hard to predict exactly what effect Uber Eats would have on the legal cannabis market in the province.

"A significant amount of the online sales that have continued to happen in British Columbia specifically are dominated by unregulated operators as opposed to licensed retailers," she told CBC News, adding that it's tough for retailers to compete with the illegal market online because it sells products for as low as half the price.

Michael Armstrong, a professor at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., who specializes in business and policy aspects of Canada's cannabis legalization, says cannabis delivery on Uber "won't likely be a big deal" because most people prefer to buy pot in brick and mortar locations.

He says Uber likely won't earn huge profits from cannabis delivery but it allows them to expand its platform and entice people to order other products off the app. 

"Every extra service they add ... can actually have a multiplying effect on their other sales," he said.