Cannabis Retail: What's Currently Going On And What Can We Expect On The Horizon?

In less than two years since the legalization of recreational cannabis, there are currently over 1,000 cannabis retail stores open for business across Canada. Half of these stores can be found in Alberta, which got off to a fast start in awarding retail sales licenses. In fact, some industry participants are of the view that Alberta's retail market is now sufficiently saturated. Indeed, some stores in Alberta are already starting to close down for financial reasons. Ontario on the other hand was significantly delayed in rolling out retail stores due to a number of government policy flip-flops and the decision to limit the initial number of licenses and award them through two regulatory-dense lotteries. However, as of the beginning of 2020 when the provincial government finally opened the retail system up to the public, there has been a surge in applications and store openings in Ontario. Notwithstanding the economic slow down caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (which