Ontario’s halting foray into the retail cannabis world is set to begin Monday, when the province’s first 25 recreational pot shops are scheduled to open.

Though many of those initial stores — selected in a January licensing lottery that saw 16,905 people and companies enter — will not open on time, hundreds more will follow over the coming months and years.

How will that cannabis cavalcade roll out? What will the stores look like? How will they operate and when? Who can they serve? Who can even go into them?

The Star asked industry experts Rod Elliot and Alanna Sokic, of the Toronto consulting company Global Public Affairs, and Matei Olaru, CEO of the cannabis resource and information firm Lift & Co., to weigh in on these and other questions.

This is an edited version of their emailed responses.

Several store mock-ups and pop-ups have appeared in Toronto over the past few months and they were elegantly decorated and inviting. Do you anticipate this will be the norm as the real ones proliferate?

Elliot and Sokic: To make novice or inexperienced cannabis consumers feel comfortable and welcome, retailers are consciously designing their stores in a fashion familiar to the average person (the most common comparison being an Apple store.) The sleek designs seen in several mock-ups are likely to become the norm.

What should customers expect in terms of service? Will the employees be knowledgeable about the products? Will customers be able to smell and view products before they purchase?

Elliot and Sokic: Given this is an entirely new market, with much riding on its success, we would expect employees to be patient, courteous and helpful when dealing with customers. All retail store employees will be required by law to complete the CannSell retail certification program. Developed by Lift & Co. and MADD Canada, the program teaches employees about cannabis, its effects, safe methods of consumption and associated risks. The course takes a maximum of four hours to complete and can be completed online at learn.cannsell.ca.

Under the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario’s registrar’s standards for cannabis retail stores, licensees are permitted to use “sensory display containers” to allow patrons to see and smell cannabis products, but they must be locked and tamper-proof to prevent touching of the cannabis.

Children are now allowed to accompany parents into LCBO and Beer Stores, they just cannot touch the products. Will this be the same in the cannabis stores?

Elliot and Sokic: Unlike the LCBO and Beer Stores, cannabis stores will be more like casinos, with children not permitted. People who appear under 25 are not permitted to enter cannabis retail stores unless the licence holder or an employee has been provided with a form of government-issued identification. (The commission can send in 18-year-olds to test compliance with the Cannabis License Act.)

Will there be standardized hours that all stores will have to abide by, like the LCBO, or could you see 24/7 operations?

Elliot and Sokic: Standard operating hours for cannabis storefronts will follow LCBO and Beer Store hours. They’re permitted to be open between 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.

What else can they sell? Bongs? Pipes? Coffee?

Olaru: Ontario regulations permit the sale of cannabis accessories — such as bongs, pipes, rolling papers and shopping bags. We expect that many retailers will want to stock up on these items as the profit margins are often very favourable for accessories.

Will there be a returns policy?

Eliot and Sokic: Yes. Customers not satisfied with their product will be able to return the product to retail stores, at which point the product must be destroyed.

Olaru: We expect this will be mostly be at the discretion of the retailer. The regulations do stipulate that cannabis that has been “returned . . . must be kept separate from other cannabis.”

What will security look like? Will it be obvious? Barred windows? Cameras? Guards at the doors?

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Elliot and Sokic: Cameras will be required to capture footage of the interior of the premises and immediately outside the premises for 24 hours a day, and footage must be retained for a minimum of 30 days. Guards will not be required, but licensees may employ security professionals to control the crowds in the weeks following April 1. Windows will not be required to have bars but must be tinted or otherwise obstructed so that youth may not be able to view product.

Aside from being 150 metres from a school, can they locate just about anywhere?

Elliot and Sokic: As part of the commission’s licensing process, there is a 15-day public notice period in which community members can share their concerns about the proposed cannabis retail location with the provincial regulator. Proximity to daycares, public parks and community centres will be seriously considered as part of this feedback period. Besides the distance restriction for schools, retail spaces that sell cannabis must be enclosed by walls separating them from other establishments, cannot include an outdoor area, and cannot be entered from or passed through in order to access another commercial space.

How will future store owners be selected? Are they prioritized by the lottery results?

Olaru: All we know right now is that the cap on 25 retail stores is supposed to end in December and the AGCO is expected to give out more licences. Of course, they could amend the regulations to close the lottery window and issue licences before then if they see fit.

Can those lottery winners partner with big industry players like Smiths Falls, Ont.,’s Canopy Growth Corp.?

Elliot and Sokic: Lottery winners cannot change the ownership structure of their licence, nor can they enter partnership agreements with licensed producers like Canopy. However, lottery winners can enter agreements pertaining to intellectual property such as branding, trademarks, etc., as we have seen with Tokyo Smoke’s brand being used at Yonge and Dundas Sts. in the old HMV store.

Can shops specialize in one brand of cannabis or will they have to offer space for any producer?

Elliot and Sokic: There is a general prohibition on retailers offering inducements (eg. Buy one, get one free!) that contain language restricting licensees from increasing the sale of a particular type of cannabis. However, there is no explicit language in the Cannabis License Act, its regulations, or the registrar’s standards that explicitly prohibits retailers from stocking product from only one federally licensed producer.

Given the amount of capital, time and resources lottery winners have poured in, it is also highly unlikely they would deprive their customers of the variety of products available to them. As well, retailers cannot purchase product directly from licensed producers and must source product from the provincial wholesaler, the Ontario Cannabis Store. The OCS has supply agreements in place with 36 licensed producers, 23 of which are headquartered in Ontario, and 21 accessories suppliers.

Do you eventually expect to see shops in every jurisdiction — even the little ones — that didn’t opt out of hosting stores?

Olaru: Absolutely — over time.

When alcohol prohibition was lifted in Ontario in the 1920s, it took some municipalities years to permit consumption in their towns. That said, what we’ve seen so far in U.S. states where cannabis is legal, like Colorado and California, is that many municipalities who may have initially opted out want back in after seeing that the sky didn’t fall, as well as witnessing the economic benefits associated with cannabis in other communities. In Ontario we’ve seen the vast majority of municipalities opt in, with only 77 of 414 municipalities opting out.

Elliot and Sokic: To effectively combat the black market, cannabis retail storefronts will have to be as ubiquitous as the Beer Store or the LCBO. Scarborough has 22 LCBOs, 16 Beer Stores, but is not slated to get any cannabis stores during phase one of Ontario’s retail rollout. That will change in the coming years.