Ontario is holding a lottery for cannabis stores on Friday. Here´s what the rest of the country tried and how it turned out
(The Star Food)

Anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 entrants, experts believe, are drawing straws on Friday for the chance to open a cannabis store in Ontario. Only 25 of them will get a shot at opening for business on April 1.The province’s lottery system is designed to keep bud mostly in the hands of the private market without overburdening Canada’s thinly stretched supply of legal weed. It’s a break from other parts of the country, where cannabis sales are largely controlled by the government. Each province and territory has experimented with its own system of regulating, selling and supplying weed to its residents.Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have also decided to leave cannabis retail mostly in the hands of the private sector. For that reason, prospective budtenders in Ontario should look west for advice on how to survive what has become an intensely competitive industry with tight profit margins.“If I was an Ontario operator, I’d be looking at my counterparts in Alberta,� said Mitchell Osak, managing director of business consulting and technology services at Grant Thornton LLP.Alberta is the next largest market using private retailers, though there are some key differences. Ontario intends from the start to restrict the number of licences it’ll issue; Alberta didn’t initially do so.Read more: Ontario’s cannabis retail lottery will have just 25 winners. But is it a smart approach, or a golden ticket to nowhere? N.B. cannabis retailer lays off staffers as ‘operational needs’ become clearToronto council opts in on pot shops just as Ontario limits number to 25 because of supply shortageOsak said Ontario’s decision to restrict the number of cannabis stores it’ll authorize isn’t necessarily a disadvantage, given the ongoing supply shortages across the country. Going slow and steady can offer a stability less restrained retail models lack.“There’s no point in opening 500 stores if you d ...