Combining at least two vices, aspiring pot merchants will enter a lottery Friday that will clear the way for a lucky 25 to open the province’s first cannabis stores in April. The lottery, which will grant the winners first dibs at applying to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario for recreational cannabis retail licences, has drawn the interest of thousands, industry experts say.On Friday, the names of the winning people or companies will be drawn, says Ray Khanert, senior communications adviser with the commission. “And they will have five business days to commence their application process.”Of the 25 winners, five will be able to open stores in Toronto, while only two will be serving the entire expanse of northern Ontario.Khanert stresses the lottery — which began accepting entrants at 12:01 a.m. Monday — will not grant licences, but the mere right to seek one. And he says winners must subsequently prove to the commission they’ve made serious financial and planning commitments to their enterprises before they’ll be allowed to open a store — with a firm April 1 target.Among other things, they must have obtained a $50,000 line of credit and committed to a non-refundable $6,000 licence application fee.On top of this licence fee there’s a $4,000 charge, also non-refundable, for a retail store authorization application — which would set the location of their shop. But Khanert says many lottery winners may hold off on this until after Jan. 22, the last date Ontario municipalities can opt out of hosting cannabis stores.Merchants who fail to open on time will face fines of $12,500 on day one and the same amount April 15. If still shuttered on May 1, they’ll be docked $25,000 — the fine money being drawn from the required line of credit.Khanert says the commission will deploy a large team to help any lottery winners who run into trouble, for example in securing the credit line. “This i ...
|
