West Van to ban sale of bear spray to minors

The District of West Vancouver is moving to ban the sale of bear spray to teens under 19 and regulate its sale to adults after police reported a spike in criminal activities involving the illegal use of the spray.

West Vancouver council voted to move forward with the regulations at their regular public meeting April 22.

West Vancouver Police Department statistics have shown a 50 per cent increase in files involving bear spray from 30 in 2022 to 45 in 2023, according to a report by Matthew O’Connor, District of West Vancouver bylaws manager. The number of police files involving teens using bear spray also doubled in that time, from eight in 2022 to 16 in 2023.

That's still not a big number, said Sgt. Chris Bigland of the West Vancouver Police. "It's going from a low number to a slightly less low number," he said.

Given that more teens are copping to carrying the spray, however, police are hoping parents and teachers will talk to teens about why its not a good idea to carry bear spray.

Pop-up TikTok parties involving large gatherings of youth at Ambleside Park were a source of several files involving bear spray last summer.

Carrying bear spray in an urban park is very different from carrying it while hiking in a remote wilderness area, said Bigland.

"I would have to do a pretty deep dive into West Vancouver police records to find a scenario where someone was actually possessing bear spray for its lawful purpose," he said.

Provincially, there are no restrictions on the sale of bear spray, but municipalities can regulate its sale. The spray contains the inflammatory agent capsaicin, an active component of chili peppers, in a percentage of one to two per cent. Bear spray contains the same active ingredient as pepper spray, but in a higher concentration. Bear spray is also generally designed cover a wider area from a further distance.

In the past two years, Chilliwack, Port Coquitlam and Vancouver have regulated sale of bear spray, including banning its sale to minors.

Given those restrictions, West Vancouver Police have voiced concerns that teens from other areas of the Lower Mainland may be coming to West Van to buy pepper spray.

Once formally adopted, the bylaws will ban the sale of bear spray to anyone under 19. Businesses will be required to keep bear spray locked up and to record the date and time of all sales, product name and quantity sold as well as the name and address of the purchaser.

Staff acknowledged there are ways around the rules if someone is determined to get bear spray, but said the regulations are intended to dissuade people who know their name and address will be recorded, as a preventative measure.

“Hopefully, it will implore businesses to be a bit more responsible and dissuade people from purchasing it for illicit purposes because they have to provide identification, legal identification, which is then documented and stored,” said O’Connor.

Currently there are only two stores in the district that sell bear spray, according to staff.

Both of those businesses said they already have similar practices in place for the sale of bear spray.

According to information provided by police, Chilliwack RCMP saw an almost 50 per cent decrease in the number of cases involving bear spray after the municipality opted to regulate sale of the spray and ban its sale to minors.

Mayor Mark Sager called the move to restrict sales of bear spray a “sensible” thing to do.

Last summer, West Vancouver Police found themselves dealing with several TikTok-fueled beach parties at Ambleside that resulted in a rash of calls to the area involving threats with bear spray, knives and fake guns.

Pepper spray has also been used by suspects who broke into a home in the British Properties.

In other communities, three teens in Port Moody were charged after they sprayed several liquor store employees after being denied service for being underage.

Another teen in Kelowna was arrested after using pepper spray to attack a Sikh youth who was riding a bus.