Four companies have been conditionally accepted by the province to run cannabis retail stores, the Manitoba government announced Friday.
The province put out a request for proposals in November of 2017.
According to a news release, the four companies accepted are Consortium of Delta 9 Cannabis Inc. and Canopy Growth Corp., National Access Cannabis, Tokyo Smoke and 10552763 Canada Corp.
“Following a thorough evaluation process, it has been determined that these four proposals best meet the criteria outlined in the (Request For Proposals),” Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade said in the release.
The province said these acceptances are conditional based on several factors, like whether the companies reach all the necessary agreements and provide the required documents
The government plans to work with these four companies on the next stages of the process, including determining how many stores they can operate under provincial licensing arrangements.
“Our primary concern from the start has been public safety, and this will continue to be paramount,” Blaine Pedersen said.
“We’ve said from the outset that this process has been rushed and it’s more important to get it right than meet an arbitrary deadline.”
The news release said that the province is still set to have these stores open as early as July 2.
First Store Already Built in Osborne Village
Delta 9’s first location has already been built in Winnipeg’s Osborne Village, which currently operates as a resource centre and clinic. It is the first of many stores the company plans for in the future.
"It is hard to overstate how important this award is for our company, our shareholders, and for the future of the legal cannabis industry in Manitoba," said John Arbuthnot, CEO of Delta 9, in a news release.
"As the only Manitoba producer licensed to sell cannabis, and partnered with the world's largest cannabis company, we feel we are uniquely situated to serve the Manitoba market with both quantity and quality of product."
