Drivers are legally obliged to pay for their gas before they pump as of today.
The new law, called Grant's Law, is named after Grant De Patie, a gas attendant who was dragged to his death while trying to stop a gas-and-dash. The Maple Ridge man was 24 years old.
Drivers will pay first, and then pump their gas, 24 hours a day in all service stations across the province.
"I'd like to see Grant's Law all across Canada," Grant's father, Doug De Patie, told CTV News.
The law requires service stations to provide two staff people at the store from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., or provide a locked safety booth for anyone working alone. It also applies to convenience stores and other 24-hour-service workers.
De Patie's family fought for the law, saying the purpose is to protect workers, not to punish the public.
But Jim Sinclair of the B.C. Federation of Labour says the province needs to work on ways to enforce the new law.
"We've got a long way to go yet to enforce this," he told CTV's Maria Weisgarber.
Businesses have a nine-month grace period before they can be subjected to fines for violating the law.
Sinclair says the grace period is not just "free time" before businesses abide by the law.
