Canopy May Franchise Pot Stores in Response to Ontario Rules
- Retailers can’t have more than 9.9% producer ownership
- Alcanna, 25% owned by Aurora, considers independent company
This article is for subscribers only.
Companies are developing workarounds to Ontario’s ownership restrictions on pot shops, with Canopy Growth Corp. exploring a franchise model and Alcanna Inc. considering an independent company.
A corporation isn’t eligible for a cannabis retail license in Canada’s most populous province if it’s more than 9.9 percent owned or controlled by one or more pot producers, Ontario said in rules issued this week. Its goal is to limit the growers’ dominance of the retail market, limiting them to one location on the site of a production facility.