Details Revealed for Montreal, Canada’s First Recreational Cannabis Storefront
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]T[/dropcap]he Société Québécoise du Cannabis (SQDC) announced on July 19 that the lease was signed for its first recreational cannabis store in Montreal, Québéc. It will be located in the in the Rosemont—La-Petite-Patrie borough and open on the first day of Canada’s recreational sales on Oct. 17.
The SQDC will have operations in four areas of Montreal. The SQDC is a subsidiary of the Société des alcools du Québec, the province’s alcohol authority. The first storefront will be located on Saint-Hubert St. between Saint-Zotique and Bélanger Sts. It will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. A total of 20 locations are expected to open by Oct. 17.
“We are very satisfied with the response,” SQDC spokesperson Mathieu Gaudreault told the Montreal Gazette. “But the process is still ongoing.” Other cities in Québéc are moving forward. At least five other stores have been approved in Quebec City, Lévis, Drummondville, Trois-Rivières and Rimouski.
Last June, Quebec lawmakers approved Bill 157, paving the way for a recreational market in Québéc. Québéc’s approach to cannabis isn’t as liberal as other provinces in Canada. Residents, for instance, won’t be allowed to cultivate cannabis at home.
Québéc’s original law imposed 250-meter buffer zones around schools and daycare centers. But due to Montreal’s dense population, the buffer zones in Montreal were dropped to 150 meters. Montreal’s first location, however, will be well within the acceptable boundaries.
The new store and upcoming stores are now currently hiring in-store jobs and office jobs. Click here to apply. “New points of sale will be added through 2020 as determined by market demand,” the organization states. “The SQCD will be headquartered in Montreal.”
The French-speaking province and city of Montreal are set to smell more like Pepé Le Pew, named after the womanizing skunk, with licensed cannabis stores set to open shortly.
