What’s Up in Weed

January 8, 2019

By: Andrea Hill

I am pleased to bring you this instalment of my blog, rounding up what’s currently happening in the cannabis industry in Canada and abroad.

24 Hours Left to Enter Lottery for an Ontario Retail Cannabis Store

• The lottery for the first 25 retail store applicants is open for another 24 hours!  Expression of Interest Applications will be accepted online until 12:00 PM (noon) EST on January 9, 2019.
• To enter, an applicant must:
  • create an iAGCO account;
  • pay a non-refundable Expression of Interest Fee of $75;
  • identify up to five Regions to enter into (more details below);
  • enter certain information about the applicant (for example, if a corporation, its legal name, whether it is privately or publicly held or a not-for-profit, its corporation number, jurisdiction of incorporation, and incorporation date); and
  • enter contact information for the applicant.
• The following types of entities may enter the lottery: corporation, limited partnership, partnership, trust, and sole proprietor.
  • Applicants who are selected in the lottery, however, may not be able to change the legal form of their entity for the time being – so if you would want to use a corporation to start up your retail store, you should incorporate now.
• An iAGCO account holder, together with its “affiliates” (defined in the regulations) may submit only one Expression of Interest Application for each Region.  Therefore, two corporations controlled by the same person may not both enter the Lottery for the same region.  However, an applicant and its affiliates may all submit applications so long as they are for separate Regions.
• The regions are as follows:
  • East Region: five stores (Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Prescott and Russell, Ottawa, Leeds and Grenville, Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, Hastings, Prince Edward, Northumberland, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Simcoe, Muskoka, Haliburton, Renfrew);
  • GTA Region: six stores (Durham, York, Peel and Halton);
  • North Region: two stores (Nipissing, Parry Sound, Sudbury, Greater Sudbury, Timiskaming, Cochrane, Algoma, Thunder Bay, Rainy River, Kenora);
  • Toronto Region: five stores; and
  • West Region: seven stores (Dufferin-Wellington, Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand-Norfolk, Brant, Waterloo, Perth, Oxford, Elgin, Chatham-Kent, Essex, Lambton, Middlesex, Huron, Bruce, Grey, Manitoulin).
• The lottery will be held on January 11, 2019.  The AGCO intends to publish the results of the lottery on its website within 24 hours of the lottery selection.
• Potential applicants should be prepared to sell cannabis under a Retail Store Authorization on April 1, 2019.  Within five business days of AGCO publishing the lottery results on the AGCO website, the 25 selected Expression of Interest Applicants will need to, among other things:
  • submit a Retail Operator Licence Application including a non-refundable $6,000 fee payment, and
  • provide a $50,000 Letter of Credit in the form provided by the AGCO.

What’s Up in Weed is not legal or financial advice. It is a blog by SkyLaw which is made available for informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional advice from a lawyer. This blog is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without our permission. If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact us. The SkyLaw team would be delighted to speak with you.

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