Number of Dufferin Cannabis Retailers Could Soon Double

Number of Dufferin County CANNABIS RETAILERS MAY SOON DOUBLE

It’s looking like Dufferin County will have no shortage of retail establishments to purchase recreational cannabis from legally.

As of the writing of this article, six recreational cannabis retailers are currently licensed by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) to operate in Dufferin County. This number may double if all current applicants are approved. Of the six retail stores currently open to the public, five are in Orangeville, plus one in Shelburne. The AGCO database shows applications put forward for six additional locations in Dufferin County, with two each in the Towns of Orangeville, Shelburne, and Grand Valley. Furthermore, the Grand Valley council recently cleared the path for a medical cannabis grower to offer retail sales.

In Grand Valley, the two applicants both currently operate stores elsewhere in Dufferin. One is Cannabis Stop, which has locations in Shelburne and Arthur and is looking to initiate several more throughout the province. Dufferin News reached out to Cannabis Stop and was informed that they plan to open in Grand Valley around the end of August. Dufferin News also reached out to Hempire House, which confirmed their proposal to open a store in Grand Valley. We received the following for public comment.

“Since the opening of Hempire House in Orangeville, we have really been able to set ourselves apart as the only locally owned and family operated dispensary in the area, which has allowed us to build some amazing connections & relations with our customers and community,” said Sharlene Lochan, head of communications and development for Hempire House. “Our Brand is heavily consumer-focused, and when the good people of Dufferin County asked us about more Hempire House locations, we wanted to deliver. We are so excited to continue to serve Orangeville and now the great people Grand Valley.”

Municipalities were granted the ability to decide whether to allow the selling of recreational cannabis within their borders. In exchange, the Ontario Government distributed additional funding through the Ontario Cannabis Legalization Implementation Fund to mitigate ‘cannabis impacts.’ That said, councils were not given the ability to restrict the location of cannabis retail stores beyond what is in the province’s legislation. This means towns and cities cannot limit the number of stores in a specific area. In regions with exceptionally high concentrations of cannabis retailers, prices have been pushed down significantly.

“We’re all selling the same product and we all have to buy from the OCS at the same price. It’s turned into, basically, a price slashing contest,” Jessica Ewert, a worker in Toronto’s cannabis industry, told Beach Metro News. “[They’ve] now changed their entire format to ‘value bud,’ Their whole niche is to sell rock bottom prices because they’re owned by a large corporation which gives them the financing to undercut any other private or small independent business.”

Speaking of large corporations, the AGCO database shows that Fire and Flower, Canada’s largest cannabis retail chain, has applied to open a store on Orangeville’s Broadway.

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Number of Dufferin Cannabis Retailers Could Soon Double

References – Number of Dufferin Cannabis Retailers Could Soon Double

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