After a stalled rollout, Ontario is aiming to approve dozens of cannabis retail outlets each week with the goal of hitting 1,000 stores across the province by the fall.

But the prospect of more competition, especially during a pandemic, has some in the industry predicting a shakeout in the marijuana marketplace.

Vivianne Wilson, the founder and president of GreenPort Cannabis on College Street in the heart of Little Italy, opened her story on Oct. 17, 2020 after waiting almost a year to get it approved.

"We opened during the pandemic, so we don't know what normal is. As soon as we opened we were on lockdown again so people can't come into the store," she said. Wilson added that the retail experience is how she hoped to differentiate her store.

After two years of legalization, Ontario continues to eat away at the illicit cannabis market. 
 
Data provided by the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) shows that the province secured roughly 40 per cent of the legal market by the end of last year. That's more than double what the legal market controlled a year earlier, but still lags behind the 52 per cent of the national legal share of recreational cannabis sales, as COVID-19 lockdowns weighed on retailers. 

More than two years after legalization, it’s almost hard to imagine what life was like before.

With many cannabis retailers across the Ottawa area, there’s no shortage of choice for consumers, but certain stores stand out from the pack. Here are 10 of the area’s premier locations, prized for their knowledge, customer service and selection

Big River Cannabis

Three years ago, before the federal government legalized cannabis, you could buy it on many First Nations in Ontario.

In some cases, these pot shops were totally legal, opened with the permission of their chief and council.

In many other communities, these dispensaries operated in a legal grey area.

That has now gone on for years and there is a growing push to set laws surrounding the sale of cannabis on reserves, especially as dozens of provincially-regulated stores are opening and eating into the market.​

Police are cautioning parents to keep an eye out after officers discovered cannabis edibles, vapes and seeds at a Toronto-area convenience store while investigating a report that the products were being sold to teens.

A tweet from the York Regional Police (YRP) notes that the report alleges the store — in Markham, Ont., just north of Toronto — was selling cannabis products, including cannabis edibles that look like candy, to underage teens.

If there’s one thing the western stretch of the Danforth, a busy street in Toronto’s east end, suddenly isn’t short of, it’s cannabis stores.

First it was Canvas, a brightly lit store in a former diner, part of a small local chain. Then, ten minutes’ walk down the street, Friendly Stranger, owned by national chain Fire & Flower, opened up shop. Then Green Merchant, part of a small local chain, opened a store across the street from the Friendly Stranger.

Finally, Canopy Growth, owner of retail chain Tokyo Smoke, confirmed this week to CTVNews.ca that they plan to open a fourth store in the neighbourhood, just across from Canvas.

Alex Clarke has been the General Manager of Relm, an Ontario-based cannabis store, since December last year. A licensed educator for the last seven years, Clarke is also a medical cannabis grower and processor for his own medicine.

“Being a cannabis patient I have learned so much about the plant. My background in education has made it easy for me to connect with customers,” he says in an email. “If everyone is more informed about cannabis maybe we can change the stigma behind it.” ​

Here, Clarke talks about pandemic buying, the store’s best-selling and latest products, and customer preferences when it comes to vapes and edibles.

A Toronto man has been charged in relation to a delivery service that was offering illicit cannabis products, reports MuskokaRegion.com.

The Muskoka Community Street Crime Unit (CSCU) of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) began investigating the operation earlier this month. Officers allegedly observed the driver making several stops in the region on Feb. 1

After stopping the vehicle, police officers seized nearly $10,000 worth of illicit cannabis products, ranging from flower and vape pens to edibles and hash. They also confiscated $530 in cash, a collapsible baton and a cellphone.

Cannabis company Indiva has secured a $22-million investment from an Alberta pot producer wanting access to the London firm’s product offerings.

Sundial Growers, an Alberta-based licensed pot producer, is lending Indiva $11 million and also buying $11 million in Indiva shares to give the Alberta firm more access to the lucrative edibles market, the companies said.

“Our core business is really edibles. Eighty to 90 per cent of our revenue is now edibles, so this gives them exposure,” Indiva chief executive Niel Marotta said.

York Regional Police issued a warning after more than $10,000 worth of cannabis products were seized from a Markham convenience store.

The bust comes days after a three-year-old girl was rushed to hospital in Belleville and then later on to a Kingston hospital after eating marijuana edibles that looked like candy.

Marijuana edibles are now legal in Canada, but you have to be over the age of 19 to use them and they have to be sold through a licensed cannabis retailer.

York Regional Police have charged two people working at the convenience store after a concerned citizen alleged they were selling edibles that looked like candy to underage teens.