Here are the first applications for cannabis stores in Mississauga
Published May 2, 2023 at 10:48 am
Cannabis stores can now legally open Mississauga and it didn’t take long for prospective business owners to apply for a licence.
The first legal cannabis shops opened in Ontario on April 1, 2019 but the City of Mississauga was one of several communities to opt out.
However, with new councillors in place, an 8-4 vote in favour lifted the long-standing ban on April 19 this year. Councillors Stephen Dasko, Carolyn Parrish, Chris Fonseca and John Kovac voted against lifting the ban.
And now, just a few weeks later, the first legal shop applications are coming in.
As of May 2, there were five applications for cannabis shops in Mississauga — with one entering the public notice phase, according to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), which is responsible for regulating Ontario’s alcohol, gaming and horse racing sectors and cannabis retail stores.
“With the City of Mississauga joining the regulated market, the AGCO is ready to handle the expected increase in new applications for cannabis retail store authorizations,” the AGCO wrote in a blog post in April.
The AGCO outlines the step-by-step process for opening a legal cannabis shop including a pre-application assessment, applying for the licence, and finding a suitable location.
One of the concerns around legal pot shops is too many popping up in one area of the city but in an Instagram interview, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie told insauga.com publisher Khaled Iwamura the city doesn’t have control over potential clustering.
“That’s what we have been fighting for for five years,” Crombie said.
The provincial government hasn’t given that kind of control to any city so they won’t give it to Mississauga, she added.
But Crombie feels clustering won’t be a huge issue given the experience in other municipalities.
“Even if it does (cluster) initially, it tends to correct itself over a short period of time,” Crombie said.
She expects that if a large number of cannabis shops open in one area, they will thin out over time.
And so far, looking at the AGCO map showing where applicants have applied to open a shop, there aren’t too many in one area of the city yet.
Here are the locations of the five shops as of May 2:
- Pop’s Cannabis Co., 1125 Bloor St. E., Suite 13 (Applewood Hills Plaza)
- Purple Tree Cannabis, 1077 North Service Rd., Unit 12 (Applewood Village Plaza)
- Pop’s Cannabis Co., 960 Southdown Rd., Suite C7 (Clarkson)
- Flowertown Cannabis, 2425 Truscott Dr. Suite 6 (Clarkson)
- The Woods Cannabis, 3145 Dundas St. W., Unit 11A (Sheridan Park)
Pop’s Cannabis in Clarkson is now in the public notice phase. Those opposing this shop can contact the AGCO until May 16. For more information on how to file a written submission in response to a cannabis store application, see this page on the ACGO website.
The map showing cannabis store locations can be found here.
INsauga's Editorial Standards and Policies