This week’s CCSI report provides an update on the expansion of licensed cannabis retailers in Ontario. To this point, Canada’s most populous province has had the slowest rollout of legal storefronts, with 40 locations currently open for business, only 5% of the over 800 open across the country.
However, the Ontario government has made changes to its licensing process that should speed up the expansion of retail access in the province. Additional storefronts should open as soon as Q2 2020, with up to 177 ultimately open to serve cannabis consumers by later this year.
Previous analysis undertaken by CannabisBenchmarkshas shown that expanding retail access is one of, if not the largest factor in boosting legal cannabis sales and capturing demand that is currently being met by illegal sources.
