Ontario's move to raise the number of stores cannabis companies can operate has been welcomed by some in the industry, but an expert says the change may only help a select few operators in the over-saturated market.
This month, the Ontario government doubled the number of retail stores allowed per licensed cannabis operator, increasing the limit to 150 from the previous cap of 75.
Gennaro Santoro, senior director of strategy at EY-Parthenon, told BNNBloomberg.ca that most operators in Ontario's saturated cannabis market weren't able to hit the previous limit of 75 stores, so the increased retail store cap will only make a difference for a select few players.
"It may impact a very small portion of retailers that have enough stores," said Santoro, who works with the EY Americas Cannabis Centre of Excellence. "Besides giving the opportunity for some retailers, very few that have a presence that is even close to 75 (stores)," he said. "It's really just adding more competition to a market in Ontario which is already pretty saturated."
Read more at bnnbloomberg.ca