Ontario Approves 10 Cannabis Dispensaries for Recreational Sales

Yesterday marked the first day of recreational marijuana sales for ten cannabis dispensaries in Ontario, Canada. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario approved these privately owned retailers and issued licenses to each after they’ve been thoroughly vetted.

Ontario Opens Cannabis Dispensaries

At the beginning of 2019, Ontario decided they would select which cannabis dispensaries would be licensed by lottery. The AGCO drew 25 retailers at random out of an estimated 17,000 applicants and have only just begun approving these brick-and-mortar storefronts for commercial operation.

The process of getting the marijuana retailers up and running has been slow at best, but Ontario maintains that there will be no cap on the number of cannabis dispensaries that are licensed in the province. Prior to yesterday, recreational cannabis consumers were only able to purchase products through the online government run Ontario Cannabis Store.  

Buying Recreational Cannabis

Residents of Ontario will now be able to purchase cannabis at the following locations:

• Brock Street Cannabis, 75 Brock St., Kingston

• Central Cannabis, 666 Wonderland Rd. N., #6B, London

• Fire & Flower Cannabis Co., 129 York St., Ottawa

• Ganjika House, 186 Main St. S., #190, Brampton

• Hobo Recreational Cannabis Store, 391 Bank St., Ottawa

• The Hunny Pot Cannabis Co., 202 Queen Street West, Toronto

• The Niagara Herbalist, 33 Lakeshore Rd., #15, St. Catherines

• RELM Cannabis Co., 4031 Fairview St., #103, Burlington, ON

• Spiritleaf, 27 Princess St., #101, Kingston

• Superette, 1306 Wellington St. W., #100, Ottawa

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is expected to approve more cannabis dispensaries in the days and weeks to come. Below is a timeline of the expected openings in April 2019.

Expected to open on April 5

• Highlife, 1299 Marcus Dr., Sudbury

Expected to open on April 20

• Canna Cabana Hamilton, 1317 Barton St. E., Unit H09, Hamilton

• Canna Cabana Sudbury, 2019 Long Lake Rd., Unit B, Sudbury

• Hello Cannabis Store, 57 Cootes Dr., Hamilton

Expected to open before the end of April

• Choom Cannabis, 7555 Montrose Rd., #E3, Niagara Fall

Other Ontario-based cannabis dispensaries expected to be licensed in the coming months:

• Ameri, 20 Cumberland St., Toronto

• Fabulous Leaf, 575 Laval Dr., #400, Oshawa

• J. London, 691 Richmond St., #5, London

• Nova Cannabis, 499 Queen St. W., Toronto

• SMOK, 20 Kingston Rd. W., #B003A, Ajax

• Tweed, 1025 Wellington Rd. #A-2, London

Now that recreational marijuana retailers have been given the go ahead to start selling, there is likely to be large influx of clientele. Preparing your cannabis storefront with powerful POS software will help streamline operations and increase customer retention. We expect there will be Ontario residents lined up to visit some of the first cannabis dispensaries to open.