Dear Madam Mayor & Members of Council,

Re: Retail Cannabis Stores

Yesterday, the Ontario Minister of Finance announced that another round of cannabis retail stores will be opened in the province and a dozen more in the Greater Toronto Area.

However, the third largest City in Ontario — Mississauga — will get none.

This is because Council decided late last year that you would opt out of having these stores in the city. Now is the time to revisit that decision.

Since the opening of the first set of stores after April 1, 2019, the system has worked extremely well. Stores that have opened have operated well, there has been no negative effect on neighbouring communities, they have generated new jobs and commercial property tax revenue and served customers purchasing a legal product in Canada well.

The Alcohol & Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has done a good job regulating and licensing these businesses and is working very well with municipalities on locations for these stores.

The Mississauga Board of Trade worked very closely with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce on its recently released Cannabis Report, which calls for greater consultation with municipalities on the location of future cannabis retail stores.

The current position of Mississauga Council to disallow cannabis retail stores is putting Mississauga at a disadvantage; it is stifling new investment in this sector, forcing Mississauga residents to purchase cannabis in other municipalities, costing jobs and commercial property tax revenue for the city and region.

The Mississauga Board of Trade is asking Council to reopen this issue and vote in favour of opting into the Ontario retail cannabis store system.