Check the package before you check the price

Every vape product that is legally taxed and sold in Canada carries a small coloured excise stamp, usually low on the package or across the seal. It is not a sticker a store adds. It comes from the manufacturer or importer, and it is how the CRA tracks that duty was actually paid on what is inside.

If a product does not have one, that is not a paperwork technicality. It means the duty was never paid, which usually means nobody checked what is actually in the bottle or the pod either.

What the colour means

The stamp colour tells you which jurisdiction the product is cleared for. British Columbia uses the peach coloured federal only stamp. That is different from provinces in the coordinated vaping duty system, like Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, PEI and Nova Scotia, which joined in April 2026, where products carry a province specific stamp on top of the federal one.

BC has not joined that coordinated system. So a legitimate BC product carries the plain peach stamp, not a provincial one. If you see a product stamped for another province sitting on a shelf in BC, or no stamp at all, something is off.

Why this actually matters to you

Unstamped product usually means one of a few things: it came in outside normal import channels, the nicotine strength on the label has not been verified against what is actually inside, or it is straight up counterfeit. None of that is something you can eyeball from the flavour name on the box.

BC also caps e-liquid at 20 mg/mL nicotine, with 0 mg/mL nicotine-free options available. Unstamped product from outside that system has no guarantee it follows that cap at all. Our nicotine-free guide covers the 0 mg/mL side if that is what you are after.

How to check yours

Look for the peach stamp on anything you buy in BC. If it is missing, or the wrong colour for the province, ask the store directly before you buy. A licensed retailer will have an answer. One that cannot explain the stamp is not one to buy from.

Where we fit in

Everything on the shelf at MooseVape is licensed, stamped and sold in store only, at all five of our 24 hour locations: Newton in Surrey, Surrey Central, Delta on Scott Road, Denman in the West End and Abbotsford on Clearbrook Rd.

We are strictly 19+ and staff check government-issued photo ID at every purchase, no exceptions. Full BC rules for tobacco and vapour products are published on the province's tobacco and vapour pages, and the CRA has more detail on the stamp system itself.

Find your closest store or check our FAQ before you head out.