A second round of cannabis retail locations will be allocated by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) via lottery today.
Of the 50 new retail locations, 42 will be allocated via lottery and eight will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis on First Nations reserves granted applicants have been given approval from the respective Band Council, with some licensees having already been announced:
“The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario this week announced that Couchiching First Nation was one of the eight First Nations communities selected for approval to open a dispensary.”
–tbnewswatch.com
The 42 non-reserve retail stores have been allotted as follows.
| East Region | ||
|---|---|---|
| Applicant Name | Municipality | Proposed Store Address |
| Ronen Ackerman | INNISFIL | 2008 COMMERCE PARK DR |
| Ethan Stark | OTTAWA | 4335 STRANDHERD DR UNIT 3,4,5 |
| Huge Shops Ontario Inc. | KAWARTHA LAKES | 566 FRANK HILL RD |
| GERMAN OLGA | INNISFIL | 1988 COMMERCE PARK DR |
| Ilim Uzunova | INNISFIL | 1982 COMMERCE PARK DR |
| Louis Laskovski | COLLINGWOOD | 312 HURONTARIO ST |
| Sofia Kuliev | BARRIE | 65 COLLIER ST |
| GTA Region | ||
|---|---|---|
| Applicant Name | Municipality | Proposed Store Address |
| Cory Floyd Cacciavillani | BURLINGTON | 1025 PLAINS RD E |
| Ekrem Uzunova | OSHAWA | 20 SIMCOE ST S |
| Grant Willson | AURORA | 15243 YONGE ST UNIT 3 |
| Corner Grass Corp. | STOUFFVILLE | 5779 MAIN ST UNIT 105 |
| Ravino Junaev | OSHAWA | 20 SIMCOE ST S |
| 2674620 Ontario Limited | BURLINGTON | 1505 GUELPH LINE UNIT 3-4 |
| North Region | ||
|---|---|---|
| Applicant Name | Municipality | Proposed Store Address |
| Carl Ignatius | Kenora | 420 SECOND ST S |
| Lorne J. Fine | North Bay | 390 LAKESHORE DR SUITE 3 |
| Thomas miszuk | Sault Ste. Marie | 317 NORTHERN AVE E |
| Gerald Harrison | Thunder Bay | 1802 VICTORIA AVE E |
| CC alliance | Timmins | 273 PINE STREET S |
| Toronto Region | ||
|---|---|---|
| Applicant Name | Municipality | Proposed Store Address |
| 9247220 CANADA LTD. | Toronto | 570 BLOOR ST W |
| Najla Guthrie | Toronto | 964 KINGSTON RD |
| 11180673 Canada Inc | Toronto | 104 HARBORD ST |
| 1916384 Alberta Ltd. | Toronto | 619 KING ST W |
| Jason Krulicki | Toronto | 2480-2490 GERRARD STREET EAST UNIT 20A |
| Brian F Parker | Toronto | 1303 QUEEN ST E |
| 2197130 alberta ltd | Toronto | 1180 QUEEN ST W |
| Varant Kichian | Toronto | 213 QUEEN ST E |
| Maria Laura Rasile | Toronto | 237 QUEEN ST W |
| Helene Vassos | Toronto | 730 DANFORTH AVE SUITE 1 |
| 2464 Dufferin Inc. | Toronto | 2464 DUFFERIN ST |
| 2708654 Ontario Ltd. | Toronto | 501 CHURCH ST UNIT 4B |
| Junaid Khan | Toronto | 815 QUEEN ST W TORONTO ON |
| West Region | ||
|---|---|---|
| Applicant Name | Municipality | Proposed Store Address |
| PATRICIA, GERTRUDE, DONNELLY | KITCHENER | 589 FAIRWAY RD S |
| Noah Soberano | LONDON | 1135 RICHMOND ST |
| 2249364 Ontario Inc. | HAMILTON | 1400 UPPER JAMES ST SUITE 8 |
| Pietro Greco | WELLAND | 115 DIVISION ST |
| Kyriakos G Anastasiadis | WINDSOR | 545 OUELLETTE AVE |
| 11535447 Canada Corp. | STONEY CREEK | 1338 S SERVICE RD, BUILDING C 5 UNIT 2, WINONA CROSSING SHOPPING CENTRE |
| ROBERT CHOMIAK | LONDON | 1310 FANSHAWE PARK RD W UNIT F1 |
| BARA BAHLUL | NIAGARA FALLS | 8685 LUNDY’S LANE, UNIT 6, |
| Eleonora Plata | ANCASTER | 1142 WILSON ST W UNIT 9 |
| Hratch Abrahamian | ST CATHARINES | 395 ONTARIO ST SUITE B2 |
| JOHN REYNOLDS | GUELPH | 120 WYNDHAM ST N |
Criteria for applicants:
- Applicants who wish to participate in this lottery must meet pre-qualification criteria including
- Confirmation from a bank or credit union that the applicant has the financial capacity to obtain $250,000 in Cash or Cash Equivalents (e.g. bonds, other short-term investments)
- Confirmation from a bank or credit union that the applicant can obtain a Standby Letter of Credit in the amount of $50,000 within five business days of being notified of their selection by the Registrar
- Confirmation that the applicant has secured a suitable retail space, including its address, which will be available to them for operating a cannabis retail store no later than October 2019
- To participate in this lottery, applicants must submit an expression of interest between August 7, 2019 at 12:01 AM and August 9 at 8:00 PM.
- The draw will take place on August 20, 2019 and the AGCO intends to publish the results of the lottery, including the selected store locations, on its website within 24 hours of the lottery draw
- It is anticipated that stores will begin to open in October 2019, as they become ready
The Province of Ontario first announced it would be approving 25 retail licenses in the first wave in early 2019.
Although the Province doubled that number in the second wave, the online cannabis community has been critical that the provincial government is still moving too slowly.
Initially, cannabis retail stores were limited to communities with populations exceeding 50,000. Ontario has approximately 14 million residents and many believed 25 was far too few dispensaries to serve a population that size.
Reddit and Twitter users expressed their dismay at what they believed to be a lethargic attitude by the ACGO and the difficulties applicants faced in entering the lottery.
This system, and the ensuing problems, are directly the result of Ford’s interference.
— (((Jon Liedtke))) (@jonliedtke) August 20, 2019
Doug Ford originally positioned himself as a pro-cannabis politician, but the mantle doesn’t seem to have suited him.
After defeating the incumbent Ontario Liberals, Ford did away with the provincial monopoly initially promised, saying there would be no cap on the amount of licenses given to cannabis retailers.
However, we are now in a situation where Ontario will only have 75 retail spaces compared to Alberta’s more than 200, despite the vast population disparity, leaving some to imply Doug Ford’s political leanings have led him to derail legalization efforts in the province.
The 42 licenses will be allocated within Ontario as follows:
- East Region: seven stores
- GTA Region: six stores
- Toronto Region: 13 stores
- West Region: 11 stores
- North Region: One store in each of the following cities: Kenora, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Timmins
–Ethan Reyes