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The results are in: Are you one of the 25 who can apply for cannabis retail licences in Ontario?

Ontario has announced the first 25 companies that can apply for cannabis retail licences in the province.

Those selected have 5 business days to turn in applications along with $6K fee and $50K letter of credit

The Canadian Press ·
The first of Ontario's privately operated stores are scheduled to open their doors on April 1. (David Horemans/CBC)

Ontario has announced the first 25 companies that can apply for cannabis retail licences in the province.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario says Tripsetter Inc., The Niagara Herbalist and Pure Alpha Holdings are among those that have been selected through a lottery. A full list can be found on the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario's website.

Those selected have five business days to turn in their applications along with a $6,000 non-refundable fee and a $50,000 letter of credit.

Licences being divided regionally

The licences are being divided regionally, with five going to the east of the province, seven in the west, two in the north, six in the Greater Toronto Area and five in Toronto itself. 

Recreational cannabis can currently only be purchased legally in Ontario through a government-run website, with the first private stores set to open April 1. 

The Progressive Conservative government had initially said it would not put a cap on the number of outlets, but later said it would begin with only 25 licences due to what it called serious cannabis supply issues that had to be addressed by the federal government.

Attorney General Caroline Mulroney said Friday that she had confidence in the retail licensing process led by the AGCO, which extended a Wednesday afternoon application deadline by an hour after receiving a flurry of last-minute applications.

Critics say store cap will allow black market to thrive

"I'm confident," Mulroney said. "A fairness monitor was overseeing the process. The people who wanted to apply, if they did so in the time frame, their application will be processed."

The AGCO has said it can levy thousands in fines if applicants who get retail licences do not open their stores on time. Failing to sell pot by April 30, for example, would result in a $25,000 fine.

Mulroney stressed that the province will lift the cap on the number of stores in the province once the federal government
addresses supply issues. 

"Certainly, we need to see more stores in place across the province but given the national supply shortage and the amount of supply that we currently have, we believed that we need to do this in an equitable way," she said.

Critics have said Ontario's store cap will allow the black market to thrive, but Mulroney stressed that the government could not ask store operators to open with no guarantee of product supply.

Here's the full list of those who won a cannabis retail licence in the AGCO lottery:

East region

  • Daniel Telio
  • Brandon Long
  • Patterson and Lavoie
  • Pure Alpha Holdings​
  • Karan Someshwar

Toronto region:

  • Heather Conlon
  • Seyedarash Seyedameri 
  • Colin Campbell 
  • Dana Michele Kendal
  • Hunny Gawri 

GTA region

  • Guruveer Singh Sangha
  • David Nguyen​
  • Tripsetter Inc.
  • Alexander Altman
  • CGS Foods Inc.
  • Gary Hatt

North region

  • Anton Lucic​
  • Saturninus Partners

West region

  • Steven Fry
  • Lisa A Bigioni​
  • Ranjit Basra
  • 2674253 Ontario Inc.​
  • Santino J Coppolino
  • Christopher Comrie
  • The Niagara Herbalist

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