The City council is looking to implement regulation that would prohibit smoking in  business and public premises and close hookah lounges Such regulation will greatly affect hookah lounge business owners, consumers in the Metro Vancouver area as well as tourists, and lastly the economy in the City of Burnaby.

Hookah consumers will be affected. Hookah has been a cultural staple in Europe, Middle East and Asia and has been around for 500 years. Being Culturally diverse city, people are knowledgeable about hookah and choose to come to hookah lounges.  A hookah lounge allows consumers to get together and enjoy high quality hookah that can not be obtained in private without a very high cost. 

There are 11 hookah lounges located in the City of Burnaby. Each business has made great investments with personal guarantees to provide a controlled smoking environment for people who enjoy hookah. Such investments include high-quality ventilation systems, high-quality pipes, renovation of establishments and more costs that come with opening a successful business. Due to COVID, all of these businesses have been impacted financially. The City is not planning on shutting our businesses down, but to ban smoking. However, more than 80% of our income comes from the sale of hookah, and such prohibitions will lead to many businesses being forced into bankruptcy. Who will be responsible to pay for our loans and take care of the families with lost income?

The economy in the city of Burnaby will be affected. Hookah lounges in Burnaby created over 120 jobs. With the current job market conditions and high unemployment rates, 120 families will be struggling financially if such prohibitions were implemented. Moreover, tourists from all over the country visit Burnaby for the sole purpose of enjoying hookah.