Listings earmarked as cannabis retail locations are available in MLS systems throughout the province of British Columbia for the first time since federal legalization came into force last year.

B.C. commercial real estate brokerage Vancouver Business Brokers announced its intent to capitalize on the ever-increasing popularity of cannabis, ostensibly in the hopes of contributing to the diversification and accessibility of the rapidly sprouting industry.

Listings include a retail space near Main Street adjacent to the Browns Craft House, which includes a five-year lease and a five-year option, and on 16th Avenue, with a longer, 10-year lease.

Oana Nicoara, a cannabis activist and owner of local dispensary Eggs Canna, said that the move is a sign of the market’s evolution and the normalization and de-stigmatization of the drug.

“Cannabis and hemp will have vast reach across many industries,” Nicoara told Mortgage Broker News. “We have seen cannabis cultivation and retail naturally evolve and take the spotlight. However, with world markets rapidly opening and our own Canadian framework now including the burgeoning derivative market, I believe that cannabis and/or hemp will become commonplace in many industries,” he added.

Despite being one of the largest cannabis markets in the country, B.C.’s legal market has struggled with lackluster sales of licensed products—with an intake of just $19.5 million this year, compared to Alberta’s $123 million, Ontario’s $121 million and Quebec’s $119 million.

Part of the problem is the province’s deeply entrenched illicit market that predates legalization by years.

“B.C., we know, has been trailing in per-capita legal sales, partly because it’s been very slow to open legal stores and partly because you have such established black and grey market suppliers there,” industry expert Michael Armstrong told CBC News last month.

B.C. is expected to see a total of about 725,000 clients by the end of 2019.