Ontario joins BC and Alberta by getting rid of dispensary window coverings for safety

As the Canadian economy continues to deteriorate the number of cannabis store robberies are on the rise

Rowan Dunne

Published

8 hours ago

Doug Ford’s government announced significant changes to cannabis industry regulations in the latest provincial budget.

Notably, Ontario dispensaries will no longer be required to have window coverings. Provincial officials say eliminating this mandate is aimed at improving safety for workers. It has been in place since federal legalization in 2018.

An increasing number of robberies at Ontario dispensaries in recent months has been a concerning trend. Window coverings have been preventing budtenders from seeing what’s happening outside and enabling stick ups to occur inside that are not visible from the street.

Every so often, someone manages to crash their vehicle into these stores too, a safety concern that could be alleviated by having improved visibility outside the front door. Last spring, a Dodge SUV smashed through the exterior of a dispensary in the province’s town of Harrow, but thankfully did not injure anyone inside.

“To increase the comfort, security and safety of both customers and employees of licensed cannabis retail stores, changes are being made to allow stores to improve their outside visibility,” the Ontario government explained.

Influential Canadian cannabis retailer High Tide Inc (CVE: HITI) (NASDAQ: HITI) (FRA: 2LYA) said the change was overdue.

“This is a win for public safety and a meaningful step forward in strengthening the integrity of Ontario’s regulated cannabis system,” the company highlighted on social media.

Ontario introduces its own badge; calls for stamping system to be abolished

Flower grown in the province, derivatives, edibles and other merchandise will soon be more easily identifiable thanks to a unique new badge or label.

“Starting in summer 2025, the OCS will issue the badge, to be featured on certain products with minimum 75 per cent grown-in-Ontario inputs, making it easier for retailers to identify and stock products that support Ontario’s and Canada’s economy,” government officials said in the budget document.

Additionally, the Ontario government called upon federal regulators to eliminate the current stamping system on cannabis products, which has proven to be a logistical headache and has attracted a great deal of criticism.

“A single national stamp would make it easier for cannabis producers, especially smaller producers, to sell their products across Canada,” the government stated in the report.

The federal government announced in December that it was working on making changes to the current system and Ontario just voiced its support for reform in that regard.

Correcting this issue has also been a top priority for the Cannabis Council of Canada (C3).

“It creates havoc on the whole supply chain system and inventory movement,” C3 President Paul McCarthy explained to Mugglehead in an interview last year. “It’s just a massive nightmare, and it costs operators a lot of money.”

The Ontario Government has released their 2025 budget papers and we are pleased to see it included a plan to help grow Ontario’s Cannabis Sector, including a call of action for the Federal Government to move to a national excise stamp. Read the full update for the below: pic.twitter.com/TmkEw6zT38

— Cannabis Council of Canada (@Cannabis_Canada) May 15, 2025