The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario says the October 2019 date set for the winners of the second cannabis store lottery wasn't a hard deadline

It could be a while before you can purchase legal marijuana at a storefront in Waterloo Region.

A recent Ontario Superior Court case involving 11 disqualified applicants only played a small part in delays we are seeing now.

Back in August, winners of the second cannabis store lottery were announced, including an application pre-qualified for Fairway Road Plaza in Kitchener.

But that court case put a hold on the application process for a couple weeks, a case that impacted the amount of stores pegged for Waterloo Region.

After the court ruled in favour of Ontario's Alcohol and Gaming Commission (AGCO), the disqualifications stand and replacement applications were pre-qualified, including a second Kitchener location (at 73 King Street West).

"Now, we are proceeding with the assessment of all applications on the selected list," says Raymond Kahnert, Senior Communications Advisor with the AGCO.

He says it's a thorough process, and includes a 15-day public consultation period.

"That information will be posted on the retail storefront, literally, as well as on the AGCO website," Kahnert explains.

As for timelines, he says the October 2019 date set wasn't a hard deadline, unlike what the first lottery winners experienced earlier this year, being required to open up stores in April or face potential fines.

"The process is moving forward, I wish I could be more specific," he said, "But we don't want to put any kind of a deadline because it's all reliant on at which point does the AGCO feel that this applicant should be issued a license."

Kahnert says nobody from the second retail store lottery has been handed a license as of yet.