PRAIRIES CAN OFFER SOME INSIGHT

Ontario Finance Minister Vic Fedeli says the province will be able to learn from the experiences of three western provinces that plan to have privately-run cannabis stores. Here’s a summary of the systems in those provinces.

Alberta: The province’s Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Commission has not limited the number of licences it will award. However, it expects to award about 250 of them in the first year of legalization. No one person or company can hold more than 15 per cent of the retail cannabis licenses in the province.

Licence applicants, associates and key applicants must undergo personal and financial background checks to prevent criminals from infiltrating the businesses. People previously involved in the illicit cannabis trade are not eligible.

Applicants must also obtain permission from the municipality before they can be issued a licence. Saskatchewan: This province solved the dilemma of how to meet high demand for store licences by holding lotteries in each community.

The government received roughly 1,350 submissions for cannabis retail stores in Saskatchewan; 17 of the 51 permits were shared between just five different companies, according to the Regina Leader Post. Applicants had one chance at a permit in each municipality.

Manitoba: The government awarded tentative approval to four of about 100 applicants who sought retail licences. They include a partnership between Canopy Growth Corp. and Winnipeg-based indoor growers Delta 9 Cannabis Inc.; and a partnership between Ottawa’s National Access Cannabis and five Manitoba First Nations.