Ontario is scrapping the lottery system it used to award cannabis retail licences and changing to an open licensing model, a move that will vastly expand the number of retail stores in Canada’s largest province and could help the pot industry compete with the black market.
| Starting in April, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) will award approximately 20 new licenses a month, with no cap on the total number in the province. The licenses will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis, similar to how Alberta issues private retail licenses, with individual companies eventually allowed to own up to 75 stores.
| “By the end of the year we’ll probably have an aggregate total of 250 [stores], in that range, and then we’ll see what the market is doing,” Ontario Attorney-General Doug Downey said in an interview.
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Ontario to scrap lottery, open up cannabis retail system to increase number of retail stores
