More than half of eligible municipalities in Ontario have opted in to host legal marijuana stores.
Municipalities were given until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday to tell the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) if they were opting out of hosting the stores within their boundaries. And 248 municipalities are listed as opting in, while only 71 municipalities have opted out.
The remaining 95 municipalities in Ontario, Canada`s most populous province, are listed as "unknown." Those that do not notify the AGCO of their preference by the deadline will, by default, be considered to have opted in. Though Ontario has 444 municipalities, only 414 were set to make decisions on pot stores, as upper-tier municipalities such as Peel Region, which includes the cities of Mississauga and Brampton, won't be able to opt in or out.
Currently, recreational marijuana can only be bought in Ontario through a government-run website, but 25 entities were selected through an AGCO lottery to apply for retail licences to open stores this April. The licences were divided regionally, with five going to the east of the province, seven in the west, two in the north, six in the Greater Toronto Area and five in downtown Toronto.
The licence winners had until the end of last week to turn in their applications to the AGCO, and the agency said Tuesday that all had done so. Now they will have to submit requests for store authorizations, and those will be subject to a 15-day public comment period.
There are no big cannabis industry names among the 25 winners, with sole proprietorships making up the vast majority. If retail licence holders aren't ready to open by April 1, they will face fines from the Ontario government of up to $50,000. The province has pledged $40 million over two years to help local governments with the costs of legalization, with each municipality receiving at least $10,000.
