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Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories has recently tabled its recreational cannabis plan. With respect to retail, recreational cannabis will initially be sold through liquor stores using the Liquor Commission. The province has stated that it believes these existing operations are best suited to the sale of cannabis as they are well versed in the retailing of controlled substances and mail order sales which include delivery safeguards. Rural areas or communities without liquor stores will have mail order cannabis available under the recreational market.
Nunavut
Although Nunavut has not yet released its cannabis legislation, it has indicated that sales would likely be through the Nunavut Liquor Commission. Nunavut
has stated that physical locations will not be operational in 2018. To do so, the government believes, would be impractical. As a result, Nunavut residents can expect cannabis sales to be purchased online and shipped.
Yukon Territories
The Yukon Territories released a summary of its draft Cannabis Control and Regulation Act. Initially, the government will sell through the Yukon Liquor Corporation (the “YLC”) online and in-store. The YLC will also control importing, warehousing, and distribution of product. The government-run store location has not been selected as of yet. The draft legislation does lay out a licensing process for private retail whereby a five member Cannabis Legislation Board will review applications and grant licenses for retail sales.