Toronto’s head of municipal licensing and standards says his agency no longer has the money to enforce the province’s cannabis laws.
In a meeting of Toronto City Council’s budget committee on January 15, Carleton Grant, executive director of municipal licensing and standards, told council that his agency can no longer afford to handle retail cannabis enforcement.
“We no longer have funding for cannabis enforcement,” Grant told the committee in response to a question from Jennifer McKelvie, Toronto City Councillor for Scarborough Rouge-Park. McKelvie was asking about provincial funding from cannabis sales to deal with enforcement, something the province provided in the first few years of legalization.
Grant says his department has received $8.5 million in funding from the province over the last three or four years, which was used to help lower the number of illegal stores in the city from over 100 to “less than ten.” He says the number of illegal stores in the city is now back up to around 70.
“This industry has changed significantly. It is criminal. It is organized crime. It is not appropriate for me to send my staff into these locations where there are weapons and there is criminal activity taking place. No other city in the province of Ontario does this with bylaw enforcement. This budget signals my exit from cannabis enforcement.”
It’s not safe to send officers into these illegal establishments, he added.
Grant added that their enforcement efforts are often not effective because these businesses can afford to just keep paying the fines, and enforcement should be done by provincial police.
Councillor Chris Moise, Ward 13, asked Grant for more details about the efforts his department has made, in coordination with Toronto police, to shut down unlicensed stores and why stores so often quickly reopen following enforcement.
“We do not go into these locations without Toronto police,” Grant noted.
“What I’m saying is we’ve made efforts over the last five, six years to close them down, to put up concrete blocks that are only to be removed within 24 hours. We have boarded up buildings. We have been counter-sued for locking a tenant into a business. We have used every tool available to us. What I’m saying is they are reopening because of the financial benefits to them, and what I want to stress is that we are not the right level of enforcement to do this work.”
He went on to say that the province has identified $31 million for the OPP to do this work, and that’s where it needs to go.
“The city of Toronto is where the bulk of the stores are because of the population, [police and OPP] should get the bulk of the money.”
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Toronto’s 2025 budget includes $86.9 million for Municipal Licensing & Standards, a 10.1% increase from the previous year. The budget also includes $1.4 billion for Toronto Police Services.
As part of Ontario’s 2024 economic and fiscal outlook in brief, the provincial government committed to investing $31 million over the next three years to support the Provincial Joint Forces Cannabis Enforcement Teams (PJFCET). This OPP-led centralized enforcement unit focuses on the cannabis file.
This investment, says the government, would enable the PJFCET to “respond to the challenge of illegal online operators and crack down further on the production, sale and distribution of illegal cannabis in the online and offline space.”
The economic and fiscal outlook, in brief, affirms the province’s previous 2024 budget, which had referenced the $31 million commitment.
Earlier in 2024, Toronto City Council passed a motion asking the province to undertake a comprehensive review of the Provincial Cannabis Control Act, 2017. The motion states that a review is “imperative to ensure the effective regulation and enforcement of cannabis-related matters” in Ontario.
Municipalities need more tools and resources to address these illegal cannabis businesses, the motion read, including “exploring options to strengthen enforcement measures, increase penalties for non-compliance, and improve collaboration between municipalities and provincial authorities.”
The illicit market in Ontario has grown considerably in the past year, and many retailers and other cannabis industry participants have been calling on the province to do more. By some estimates, several hundred new, unlicensed retailers have begun operating in different parts of Ontario, with close to 100 in Toronto alone. While some have faced enforcement, many have not, causing frustration for licensed retailers who incur numerous fees in order to operate with the province’s approval.
Grant’s comments to council echo those of Toronto cannabis store owner Paul McGovern, a former police officer with Toronto Police Services who stepped down in 2018 to open Vertie Cannabis. McGovern told StratCann last year that he believes Ontario needs more of a province-wide approach to enforcement, similar to the approaches provinces like British Columbia and New Brunswick have taken.
StratCann reached out to representatives at the City of Toronto in 2024, and their response revealed a need for the province to review the Cannabis Control Act, which has not been updated since before legalization.
“In March 2024 Toronto City Council requested the Province of Ontario undertake a comprehensive review of the Cannabis Control Act, 2017, in consultation with municipalities, including roles and responsibilities, funding, and enforcement, and addressing unlicensed cannabis establishments,” said Shane Gerard, Senior Communications Coordinator. “The Cannabis Control Act, 2017 has not undergone a comprehensive review since it was introduced seven years ago.”
He added that the province is responsible for licensing and regulating private cannabis retail stores through the AGCO, which in turn enforces the regulations. Further, Gerard said that the city does, in fact, go after property owners.
“The City can, and does, file charges against property owners who are in contravention of the Cannabis Control Act. Individuals charged can face fines of up to $250,000 and face imprisonment of two years (minus one day).”
The city also pointed out that the current Cannabis Control Act provides limited authority to municipal by-law officers.
“These officers do not have arrest powers and are not permitted or trained to use force while carrying out enforcement activities. This makes the enforcement of unlicensed cannabis dispensaries challenging and presents health and safety risks to officers.”
h/t Toronto Star
