cannabis delivery ontario

Ontario to prohibit cannabis stores from offering delivery and curbside pickup

Ontario has announced that delivery and curbside pickup services will no longer be allowed at weed stores in the province's state of emergency ends. 

Since April, the province has allowed privately-owned cannabis stores across Ontario to better cater to customers staying at home during the pandemic with delivery and curbside pickup. 

But according to a Richard Clark, the communications director for Ontario's Finance Minister, those services will end "when the Declaration of Emergency expires along with other temporary measures that had been put in place to support people and business during the public health emergency." 

“As part of the government’s framework for reopening our province, cannabis retail stores can reopen with measures in place that can enable physical distancing, such as limiting the number of customers in the store at any one time and booking appointments.”

Clark didn't specify in his e-mail to press when we can expect those services to end, since the end date to Ontario's lockdown is still up in the air. 

But when it does, the only provider of weed delivery will be the province-run online retailer, the Ontario Cannabis Store.

The rest of Ontario's privately-owned stores will then be limited to click-and-collect, which will allow customers to order online but still require them to pick up their purchases in-store. 

The announcement has sparked major concern for some of the province's retailers, many who hastily shifted their business models to provide delivery or curbside pickup to compete with illegal delivery services, which still make up more than 80 per cent of Ontario's cannabis sales. 

It also calls into question health concerns surrounding the pandemic, and accessibility issues for customers who will see their access to cannabis restricted once more. 

Groups like the Ontario Chamber of Commerce are calling for Ontario to make delivery and curbside pickup a permanent part of the industry. 

Lead photo by

Fareen Karim


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