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DELTA 9 CANNABIS INC. An image of Delta 9’s first cannabis retail store in Winnipeg, with artist rendering of logos and signage. Delta 9 has proposed a location for Brandon’s downtown core.

At least four cannabis dispensaries have been proposed for Brandon.

The latest in this growing list has been slated for Brandon’s downtown core, where Delta 9 Cannabis is waiting on final approval before announcing an exact location.

The revelation came as an aside during a press release on Monday, in which Delta 9 announced the locations for their first two cannabis stores in the province.

These included a Winnipeg location —a 32,000-square-foot outlet in St. Vital Square, which is being billed as a superstore, twice as large as most other stores in development — and another at City Centre Mall in Thompson. These two locations will operate under the Delta 9 Lifestyles brand.

Earlier this month, The Brandon Sun verified that Canopy Growth had received an interior renovation permit from the City of Brandon for 2705 Victoria Ave. Canopy Growth has partnered with Delta 9 under the "Tweed" umbrella, and is opening one such outlet at the address in question.

Garden Variety has previously announced their intentions to open a retail outlet somewhere in Brandon —at latest update, during the first quarter of 2019.

Tokyo Smoke, in partnership with B.O.B. Headquarters under the store name of "Hiku," recently posted a job advertisement online for a retail outlet in Brandon, though The Sun has yet to verify its proposed location.

This brings the latest total number of verified proposed cannabis dispensaries in the Wheat City to four.

Restricted in what he can say as a result of provincial regulations, Delta 9 spokesperson Gary Symons said that the goal is to have the Tweed store at 2705 Victoria Ave. open as close to the Oct. 17 legalization date for recreational cannabis as possible.

"I couldn’t say we’d be open for sure on Oct. 17," he said, adding that despite this uncertainty, the legalization date remains their North Star.

The proposed downtown location carries even more question marks, alongside the other two proposed locations whose nuances have yet to become public record.

However restricted Symons remains in issuing location-specific details, he was able to share some insights regarding what the Delta 9 business model is, and what their dispensaries in general will entail.

Each location will be staffed with between 15 and 35 people, who all received in-depth training prior to starting the job.

"We know that there are people who have been consuming cannabis for years —they know what they want," Symons said, adding that staff need to be up to date to answer their questions.

There also some people who either have either never consumed cannabis or haven’t in decades who might need a refresher — another important group staff will have to handle.

"We’re not there to just push out as much weed as possible," he said. "Our people are very much about educating people about this before the put out the product … Especially in the first month, there will be a lot of questions."

Sourcing their product from a facility in the Transcona area of Winnipeg, Symons said that he’s proud of their quality of product and their in-province focus, which not all of the companies the province has allowed to sell cannabis in Manitoba maintain.

Although the question of whether there will be enough cannabis on hand to supply the market during its early days remains a source of concern, Symons said that the Delta 9 operations in Winnipeg are in the midst of a time of great expansion to help make it work into the long term.

Earlier this month, City of Brandon chief planner Ryan Nickel said that the municipality is treating cannabis dispensaries as they would any other business. Although the city’s elected officials had considered a more robust set of rules, he said that they determined the provincial regulations were strict enough to quell their concerns.

Nickel said that these provincial regulations include restrictions as it relates to location —similar to liquor stores — and that they not stand out as anything unique, with the spaces proving "low-profile."

When it comes to Delta 9 outlets, Symons said that they’re far removed from the "seedy backdoor store" the decades of illegality cannabis has been reduced to.

"It’s almost like going into an Apple store, but instead of computers you’re going to see counters filled with really high-end cannabis bud," he said.

» tclarke@brandonsun.com, with files from the Winnipeg Free Press

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB