The draw for the 25 stores will happen on Friday

The province's first 25 retail cannabis stores are starting to take shape.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is running a lottery for those licences, which opened on Monday morning.

The draw will take place on Friday and it's expected the results will be announced over the weekend.

A lawyer said it's a pretty simple process to enter the lottery.

You need to create an account on the AGCO website, enter information about your company, plus provide a non-refundable application fee of $75.

But Trina Fraser, a partner with Brazeau Seller Law, said the obligations become "very onerous" if you win one of the licences.

"You're going to have to provide the AGCO with a stand-by letter of credit in the amount of $50,000 within five business days ... then you're going to have to get your operator application and your store authorization applications together and submitted really quickly." Fraser told The Mike Farwell Show on 570 NEWS.

She said the lottery winners would also need to be putting plans in place to build their store, hire staff and purchase inventory.

"All of this system is really geared toward the AGCO's intention of ... those 25 stores opening on April 1st ... If you don't open your store on April 1st and you're one of those 25 winners, then there's significant financial penalties that will be levelled against you." Fraser explained.

She also does call the province's plan "really ambitious".

"I would have to think that if you haven't already locked down your location with a binding lease ... if you haven't already designed your store, perhaps even commenced construction, I really don't know how you'd meet that deadline."

Fraser said the potential retailers also face many factors out of their control, including whether or not the municipality you want to set up shop in, has voted "for" or "against" cannabis retail.

That vote is expected to come at the council meetings in Kitchener and Waterloo on January 14.

The province had set a deadline of January 22.