1. Licensing and Regulation of Recreational Cannabis

The AGCO is responsible for regulating Ontario’s privately run cannabis retail stores under the Cannabis Licence Act, 2018 and Regulation 468/18.

Under Ontario’s regulatory model, the AGCO:

• licenses eligible retail store operators and managers;
• authorizes cannabis retail stores;
• regulates and enforces the appropriate sale of recreational cannabis in privately-run stores in Ontario.

In 2019–2020, the AGCO continued its work to support the Government of Ontario in the regulation of legal, recreational cannabis.

On April 1, 2019, 10 AGCO-licensed cannabis retail stores opened for business in support of the government’s objective to provide for the safe, responsible, and lawful sale of recreational cannabis.

In August 2019, the AGCO held a second lottery draw in support of the government’s plans for the allocation of 42 additional retail store authorizations (RSA), for which it received more than 5,000 expressions of interest. In addition, it established a separate first come, first served process for 26 stores to be allocated on First Nations reserves. The AGCO’s eligibility assessment process for these applicants, including a full due diligence review of to ensure they meet legislative and regulatory requirements, continued through the fiscal year.

In December 2019, the Government of Ontario announced its move towards an open market for private cannabis retail in Ontario. In response, the AGCO modified the application process for cannabis retail licensing and on January 6, 2020, began accepting online Retail Operator Licence (ROL) applications from all interested applicants. It received 884 submissions. On March 2, 2020, the AGCO began accepting online RSA applications from eligible applicants. It received 563 submissions. By March 31, 2020, the AGCO had issued 398 ROLs and 54 RSAs.