GUELPH — Several media outlets have reported Ontario could see private stores selling cannabis when it becomes legal this fall. However, don't expect to see any such stores in Guelph — at least not until next year.

David Wiedrick, the City of Guelph's manager of bylaw compliance, security and licensing, said that should the province permit private sales of cannabis this fall, the city would need to make changes to its business licence bylaw — and a change like that would take some time.

Also, with legalization a little more than two months away, details of this possible change are still outstanding.

"We foresee that the province would require a development permit approval or an approved municipal business licence (providing a location, police check, proper zoning, and proposed hours) before they issue their provincial licence," Wiedrick told the Mercury Tribune in an email.

"We anticipate the province providing a full list of details for the application requirements."

Wiedrick added that, once that procedures become clear, the city would need to have public consultation on a proposed bylaw, which would then have to go to council for approval.

Another hurdle in the way of the city getting a new bylaw in place is a pre-planned event scheduled for just a few days before cannabis is legal in Canada.

"We will try to organize this and have regulations in place as soon as possible, but with the municipal election in October, there are some barriers to the exigency of having the bylaw passed," he said.

In late July, both Vice News and The Globe and Mail reported that Premier Doug Ford is expected to announce he is scrapping plans to have the Crown-owned LCBO oversee Ontario Cannabis Store operations, instead throwing brick-and-mortar retail sales over to private businesses.

It is expected that the province would still be in charge of distributing cannabis to stores as well as handling sales online.

In an interview with the Toronto Star, Rod Elliot, the senior vice-president with the Toronto consulting firm Global Public Affairs, said that it would be tough for the province to pass legislation, create a regulatory and licensing framework and vet potential retailers by mid October.

"We still need to get exact details, but ... given the tight deadline for Oct. 17 for cannabis legalization, it might be the case consumers will need to buy online until retail stores can be finalized," Elliot said.

Wiedrick said that the current Ontario Cannabis Store, which will be on Stone Road, did not need to go through any municipal bylaw changes to be approved as the city "does not regulate a provincially operated store."

Mayor Cam Guthrie says the city is slated to play a big role when cannabis becomes legal in October, and that any changes will take some time to adjust to.

"We have to deal with the policing, our bylaw enforcement, public health, even economic development departments have a role to play in this," he said.

"We're the front lines … and we're going to need time to figure out what the impacts are going to be if they change it."

Should Ontario move to private recreational cannabis sales, it would join Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Saskatchewan, which have said privately-run stores will handle public sales. British Columbia has said it will have both publicly- and privately-run storefronts.

In the mean time, Wiedrick said the city is working with the province on the previously announced provincially-run store, which is scheduled to be operational when recreational cannabis becomes legal Oct. 17.

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"We have a working group that meets regularly to discuss the new legislation and the impacts and anticipated responses from all of the community partners," he said.

The previous Liberal government had planned to have 40 stores open by the end of the year, with one of the first four being in Guelph.