The Canadian Press
TORONTO–Municipalities in Ontario will find out in the coming weeks if a provincially-run cannabis store could be located in their community.
In a letter sent to the province’s municipalities today, Finance Minister Charles Sousa said Ontario’s store roll-out aims to achieve the right geographic distribution across the province, and to reduce the number of illegal marijuana dispensaries that have opened since the federal government announced it would legalize marijuana next summer.
The Ontario government said none of the retail stores will be located near schools.
The province plans to set up roughly 150 standalone shops–run by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario–by 2020.
The first wave of 40 stores will open in 2018, with that number rising to 80 stores by July, 2019.
Ontario was the first province to announce a detailed plan to sell and distribute recreational marijuana, and will set the legal age to purchase it at 19.
