Canada is less than a month away from beginning legal sales of recreational marijuana.
Ontario’s government has revealed this week that it will not place a cap on pot shops when it starts licensing and regulating the province’s private cannabis retail marketplace.
A bill is expected to be introduced this week according to the Progressive Conservative government that will appoint the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario as regulator for the marketplace. The regulators will have the power to grant and revoke licenses and also enforce provincial rules on cannabis sales.
Anyone who wants to run a pot shop will have to apply for both a retail-operator licence and a retail store authorization for each potential location.
“Any engagement with organized crime, any record of providing youth cannabis, any of that would bar you from participating in the private cannabis market,” remarked Finance Minister Vic Fedeli.
“If you are still operating an illegal retail operation after Oct. 17, you would not be able to get a licence in Ontario.”
Ontario municipalities that want to opt out of hosting pot shops will have until Jan. 22, 2019 under the new legislation.
