[2] After the federal government announced recreational use of cannabis would be legalized in 2017 or early 2018,[3] then Premier Kathleen Wynne commented the LCBO stores might be the ideal distribution network for stocking, controlling and selling such products.

[7][8] The Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation (OCRC), was established as a subsidiary of the LCBO with a mandate to initially open 40 stores before legalization took effect in October 2018.

Under this new model, the OCRC continues to operate the provincial online cannabis sales service and serves as the wholesale supplier for private stores in Ontario.

Initially, the Ontario government planned to limit the number of retail outlets for cannabis to 25, operated by private enterprise, and to allocate them through a lottery system.

[21] The black market remained persistent as of October 2019, partly because of a lack of retail outlets in many communities and because of the lower prices charged of illicit product.