A proposed cannabis store could take over the site of the Smoque Shack in Ottawa’s ByWard Market.
An application under the name “Byward Market Cannabis” has been filed with the Alcohol and Gaming Commision of Ontario, the provincial regulator in charge of pot retail licences. Patterson and Lavoie, one of the winning parties from the Ontario cannabis lottery, filed an application for a storefront at 129 York St. The public has until March 6 to submit feedback on the proposal.
CTV is reporting that the site will be run by Fire & Flower, an Alberta-based cannabis retailer. The company announced Tuesday that it has struck agreements with two lottery winners in Eastern Ontario but did not provide specifics.
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Gatineau-based pot producer Hexo announced last summer that it had invested $10 million in Fire & Flower, shortly after news broke that Ontario would open its doors to a private cannabis model.
“We have been anticipating the Ontario government’s potential move towards retail cannabis in Ontario, and made a strategic large investment in Fire & Flower in preparation,” said CEO Sebastien St-Louis in a statement last year.
The Gatineau firm’s investment came with a supply agreement that the retailer would stock Hexo products in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario stores when permissible.
Fire & Flower says it will reap consulting and licensing fees from its Ontario-based partners once the shops are running, and will then have an option to acquire the applicants’ interest in the sites once the lottery system has expired.
The potential ByWard Market shop would join a Wellington West location proposed earlier this month when cannabis storefronts are permitted to open on April 1.
