North Bay is getting a pot store.

The province has announced a second licence lottery with 50 new cannabis retailers across Ontario, including one locally.

MPP Vic Fedeli says including North Bay five stores are designated for the north including Timmins, the Sault, Kenora and Thunder Bay.

“The whole approach to cannabis has been about the safety for our kids, safety for our roads and curbing the illegal market. In order to do that in northern Ontario we need to make sure each of the major centres has a cannabis retail outlet,” he says.

Fedeli says they’ve been working on this for some time, having analyzed the initial offering.

“The last time we planned for two in the north and I guess the presumption would’ve been that one would be in the northeast and one in the northwest, but both ended up in Sudbury, so Sudbury would be excluded from this round,” he says.

With the second lottery, there’s also a chance another cannabis retailer could pop up in the area.

“There are also eight specifically for First Nations communities and I would presume then that our area would be interested in that as well,” Fedeli says.

After meeting all requirements and getting approval, retail stores will open on a rolling basis, beginning in October.

Detailed pre-qualification requirements and all application process and lottery timelines are available on the AGCO website.

The lottery will take place on August 20th, with the successful applicants notified within 24 hours.

 

(Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg)

Filed under: Cannabis store, City of North Bay