Growing Relationships Ontario – 2024 Synopsis

As part of the Growing Relationships series, StratCann kicks off each event with the Regulatory Roundtable—a crucial opportunity to take the pulse of the industry and spotlight the unique challenges and priorities faced by the communities in which we host our events.

While common topics like the excise tax rate and the 10mg THC limit for edibles often dominate discussions, the Regulatory Roundtable serves as a platform to uncover and explore the more unique and nuanced challenges currently affecting the industry. These sessions delve into the complexities of various government regulations and foster dialogue on how to conduct business more efficiently and effectively across the sector.

In these sessions, attendees are allotted approximately 15 minutes to engage in discussions at their table of stakeholders, identifying the most pressing issues impacting their businesses. They compile a list of their top three concerns along with any recent improvements they’ve observed. Below is a compilation of some of the key issues raised in Ottawa, Ontario, on August 20, 2024.

Attendees also expressed a general understanding of many of the recently proposed regulatory changes presented by Health Canada in Gazette 1, released earlier this year.

After each event, we compile a synopsis of these discussions and share it with the relevant federal and provincial regulators, as well as with our attendees. We’ve organized the Ontario feedback into the two categories below.

Summary of Discussion Items

Retailer

Retailers in Ontario, as we’ve heard in other provinces, continue to express concerns that the requirement to prevent visibility into cannabis stores puts employees and stores at risk, making them more vulnerable to robberies and break-ins.
Several retailers reported their frustration with the proliferation of unregulated stores—often operating within close proximity to their stores—and the lack of enforcement. This issue, which was less prominent at our first event in Ontario just over a year ago, seems to be growing more prominent.
Both retailers and consumers are frustrated by the restriction preventing customers from bringing their children into cannabis stores, which forces them to either leave their children in the car or plan separate shopping trips.
Some retailers in Ontario say they are unable to see newly available products on the OCS web portal, despite producers telling them they are available.
Several retailers are asking producers to give them more consumer-friendly information about their products, with one retailer saying their customers are not chemists and do not care about specific terpenes. Instead, they want to know what it smells or tastes like, and other simplified sensory attributes.

General industry

While excise taxes are a known point of contention in the industry, one table noted that any changes to the excise rate would likely benefit larger producers more than smaller ones.
Concerns about THC inflation and the integrity of lab results continue to be a concern among producers, retailers, and others in the industry.
Some producers feel there is an uneven playing field regarding the enforcement of marketing restrictions and other federal regulations. This leads to confusion among smaller companies, who see examples set by other producers and assume they can do the same without understanding the risk this can entail. More proactive and balanced enforcement would create a more level playing field.
There is a continued call for the industry to focus on creating more sustainable and recycled/recyclable packaging. In addition, federal packaging requirements add to the challenges of developing economically viable solutions for the industry.

OCS Flow-Through Session

Thank you again to Matthew Lopez, Director, Logistics and the Ontario Cannabis Store for their presentation on Ontario’s Flow-Through program. You can view the slides here: OCS Flow-Through Presentation.