Ontario is on pace to see 40 new pot shops licensed this fall as the province’s cannabis retail store regulator announced it is doubling the number of licenses it issues. 

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), responsible for regulating cannabis retail stores in the province, announced it will double store authorizations at the government’s direction. So far, the AGCO issued 164 licenses, 150 of which have opened shop in Ontario. Some 900 applicants are currently waiting to open cannabis retail shops.

In Toronto, Ontario’s capital and largest city, over a hundred pot shops are waiting to secure approval, while 53 have already opened. 

Councillors in Prince Edward County are looking to have a little more control over cannabis production facilities in the municipality.

An interim control by-law for the entire municipality that prohibits the expansion or creation of cannabis production facilities was approved during a committee of the whole meeting at Highline Hall in Wellington on Thursday.

Planner James Griffin couldn’t tell councillors how many current operations are located in Prince Edward County as Health Canada does not have to give notice to the municipality when they issue a licence.

Griffin did note staff were in conversation with Health Canada with neighbouring municipalities discussing odour controls, setbacks and what municipalities can control during the meeting.

After spending nearly $400,000 to build and prepare a new cannabis store in Brampton, Ont., Mirna Diab doesn't know if she and her family can wait until next August to get the paperwork needed to open its doors. 

"Put yourself in our situation," Diab, who led all construction and development of their HiBuzz cannabis store while her husband Charbel handles administrative duties, told BNN Bloomberg in a phone interview. "My husband can't sleep at night and we've spent our life's savings. Now that we've spent everything we have, [the provincial regulator] told us we need to be on the waiting list for almost a year. It's very frustrating." 

The Hanover Police Service is issuing a warning to sticky-fingered, shovel-wielding types who are looking to steal personal pot plants from backyards in the community.

“If you are so inclined to prowl around at night & steal anything plan on a @norms1947 breakfast on us topped off with a court date in Walkerton,” Chief Christopher Knoll of the Hanover Police Service tweeted this week.

The tongue-in-cheek invite to Norm’s Restaurant — a local restaurant where, apparently, The Legend Lives — follows two recent incidents in which thieves made off with marijuana plants from backyards.

Hamilton’s legal cannabis market is going to get crowded in the coming months with retail applications pending across the city.

Forty-eight retail licence applications are being processed by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). Four of those potential stores are in the process of receiving public scrutiny, the other 44 have passed that stage and are undergoing review by the AGCO.

If all applications are granted, there will be 56 pot shops spread out through Hamilton, from Ancaster to Winona and Waterdown to Binbrook.

New locations are good news for customers in areas of the city that were shut out when the government was granting licences through the lottery system.

Licences are pending for seven new cannabis stores in Muskoka. If approved by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the stores will open later this year and in early 2021.

Licence applications are in process for one cannabis store each in Bracebridge and Gravenhurst, and five stores in Huntsville. Bud Heaven at 77 Manitoba St. in Bracebridge is currently Muskoka’s only authorized cannabis store.

Private cannabis retailers in Ottawa are fighting to have home delivery reinstated after seeing a decline in sales and worrying people might be turning to the black market.

When COVID-19 hit this spring, the government closed all cannabis shops, but later allowed private retailers to operate delivery and curb-side pickup. That ability was rescinded in July as the province moved into Stage 3 reopening. 

The Ministry of the Attorney General explained that the shops were allowed to reopen with pandemic measures in place, including booking appointments or using a "click and collect" service which allows customers to schedule a pick up time.

A group of dispensary owners hoping to set up shop in the same one-block area has provoked some Torontonians to ask the Alcohol and Gaming Commission to look more closely at the proximity rules governing the city’s cannabis retailers.