Ontario’s cannabis store openings slow as legal pot’s share of sales up: OCS

By Staff The Canadian Press

Posted April 14, 2022 3:47 pm

1 min read

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Click to play video: 'Peterborough cannabis shops continue to carry on during pandemic' — WATCH ABOVE: A number of local cannabis shops opened during the pandemic. Like many other businesses, COVID-19 presented some challenges. Katrina Squazzin checked in with two retailers to see how they are doing. – Mar 31, 2022

TORONTO — Ontario’s cannabis distributor says the number of pot shop openings is still growing but at a slower pace than previously seen.

The Ontario Cannabis Store says the number of authorized marijuana retailers open for business in the province increased by 20 per cent between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, compared to 34 per cent in the three months prior. The OCS says the province now has 1,333 pot shops open, up from 1,115 at the end of September.

The new figures contained in the OCS’s quarterly report also show shoppers chose brick-and-mortar stores for 96 per cent of their recreational cannabis purchases in the distributor’s third quarter, with $383 million in sales and 57 million grams of pot sold in stores across the province.

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The OCS says nearly 59 per cent of the province’s cannabis purchases were made through legal channels, up from 54 per cent during the quarter before and 43 per cent a year ago.