Canada Pot Stocks Rally as Ontario Plans to Open 150 Stores
- Ontario to create cannabis control board for pot sales
- Other provinces will probably announce plans soon, Canopy says
A marijuana leaf is displayed for a photograph at a Bonify grow facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on Wednesday, July 12, 2017. A year before recreational cannabis is expected to become legal in Canada, there's an explosion in companies cultivating the stuff. Some 51 enterprises have gotten the green light to grow pot, and 815 applicants are in the queue.
Photographer: Trevor Hagan/BloombergCanadian marijuana producers rose on Friday after Ontario said it will open as many as 150 government-run pot stores and allow online purchases as the country gears up for legalized recreational sales next July.
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario will reach the 150-store target by 2020 and manage the sale and distribution of marijuana, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa said Friday. The stores won’t be housed inside government-owned liquor stores, and there will be as many as 80 stores operational in the first year, he said.