Ontario Cannabis Shortage Looms
An Ontario cannabis shortage looms as the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) shuts down deliveries after a cyberattack. It has fanned the flames for those who want to open up Ontario’s cannabis retail market, showing the weaknesses in the government’s monopoly.
The OCS announced that one of its distribution partner, Domain Logistics, was attacked. Although the government agency said that there is no indication that customers’ information was breached, it stopped deliveries “out of an abundance of caution”. The agency did not give a timeline for reopening.
For some, that “caution” comes at high risk.
“When you’re my only wholesaler and you’ve got a firm grasp on who can get delivery and when we can get delivery, it leaves us zero options,” said Elisa Keay of K’s Pot Shop in Toronto. “We’re totally at their mercy.”
Like many small businesses, Keay doesn’t keep a large inventory. That means an Ontario cannabis shortage will hit her harder.
“I don’t like to order massive quantities of any one thing because I rotate a lot of things through, so when I get disrupted, it means that the shelves are going to be bare,” she said. “It means that some customers are going to come in, shake their head, upset they’re not getting what they want and they’re going to go somewhere else because they don’t want to hear that it’s not my fault… and there was a cyberattack.”
Ontario Cannabis Shortage Affects Small Cannabis Retailers Most – LPC
As Keay’s experience shows, an Ontario cannabis shortage will affect small cannabis retailers most. Larger companies such as High Tide have reportedly already been moving supply from slower-volume stores to higher-volume ones – something small businesses can’t do.
“They’re on a more tight, fixed budget, so from week to week, we can only spend so much and if you’re not getting that product that you need, what are you supposed to do and how are you supposed to pay the rent?” said Sean Kady, co-owner of Cosmic Charlies in Toronto.
It wouldn’t be the first time OCS policies favour larger businesses. Craft cannabis struggles for OCS space due to scheduling and listing policies. In 2021, NOW Toronto ran an article stating that Ontario is killing retail cannabis. Among other things, its monopoly and its “pay-to-play” policies undercut private retailers. Others say that Canada’s cannabis industry in general needs to be fixed.
Regardless, it’s the reason behind the Ontario cannabis shortage that is most worrisome. Provinces such as Saskatchewan have shown that the private wholesaler model works. So is there really a need for a government cannabis wholesaler? Especially one that is susceptible to cyberattack that shuts down the whole cannabis industry in Canada’s largest province?
Perhaps the Ontario cannabis shortage is the wake-up call needed to open up the cannabis market a little more.
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