Special delivery

Request for proposals issued for companies wanting to provide home delivery for marijuana

Home delivery could be big business for the P.E.I. government as it looks for companies to bring legal cannabis to Islanders.

Last week, the P.E.I. Liquor Control Commission issued a request for proposals for companies interested in providing home-delivery service for cannabis.

Commission spokesman Zach Currie said although it might not happen in the early stages the goal is to provide Islanders with same-day delivery.

“That’s what we’ll aim for,” he said.

The P.E.I. government tabled the Act to Respond to the Legalization of Cannabis in April as it prepares for the federal government to make marijuana legal in Canada.

That bill includes the creation of the Cannabis Management Corporation, which would oversee marijuana sales in the provinces through four retail stores and an online platform.

The four stores will be in Charlottetown, Summerside, O’Leary and Montague.

For those not wanting to buy marijuana from a retail outlet, the province will sell it through the online platform, which is why the government is looking for companies to deliver it.

Currie said the decisions on store locations were largely based on population density and geographic distribution.

“We also thought, along with every other jurisdiction in Canada, the online sales platform would be a nice way to complement that measured approach,” he said.

“We also thought, along with every other jurisdiction in Canada, the online sales platform would be a nice way to complement that measured approach.”

Zach Currie

The request for proposals details the requirements of any companies that want to provide the delivery service.

It includes an estimate that home deliveries could average 100-200 per day in 2018.

Other conditions include checking that the purchasers are 19 or older and that purchases are held for pick up if no one is home to receive them.

The pick-up and delivery services will have to operate at least five days a week, excluding statutory holidays.

All packages will start out from a centre in Charlottetown, and any delivery companies will have to have loss prevention measures in place.

Currie said the delivery zones will be segmented by county.

“It’s not necessarily to say that one provider would get all three.”

Security will be a big consideration, and Currie said there will be several mandatory protocols because one of the objectives is to keep legal marijuana from ending up in the illicit market.

“That’s going to be a pillar of this submission process.”

The deadline for submissions is May 18.