Until March 2, 2020, only those who were notified by the AGCO to apply for Retail Operator Licence before January 6, will be able to apply for a Retail Store Authorization. For more information see the Cannabis Retail Store Owners/Operators portal.
On December 13, 2018, the Government of Ontario announced that a temporary cap of 25 Retail Store Authorizations would be imposed while cannabis supply stabilized.
As set out in Ontario Regulation 468/18, the Government of Ontario gave the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) the mandate to hold a lottery to determine who could apply for Retail Operator Licences. That lottery took place on Jan 11, 2019 in accordance with the Expression of Interest Lottery Rules.
On July 3, 2019 the Government announced that an additional 50 cannabis retail stores will be permitted across Ontario. For more information, visit the Allocation Lottery - Second allocation of stores page.