The Ontario PC government yesterday evening passed new regulations for the licensing and operation of private cannabis stores. Focusing largely on the protection of children and youth and overseen by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), these regulations provide more insight on how the private recreational cannabis store system will operate. The private stores are set to begin opening on April 1, 2019. 

Key details of the new regulations include:

• Retail stores must be a minimum distance of 150 metres away from schools, including private and federally-funded First Nation schools off-reserve

• Anyone under the age of 19 is not permitted inside a licenced retail outlet 

• Applicants will be denied a licence in certain instances, including cannabis-related offences and illegal cannabis retailers who were operating after October 17, 2018

• Private stores are to be stand-alone cannabis retailers and can be open from 9:00am to 11:00pm on any day

• The application process for private stores will begin on December 17, 2018

More detail on these regulations can be found in the government’s press release. Once posted, the new regulations can be found here.