Cannabis NB opening three new urban stores to compete with illegal market

What was once the location of an illegal dispensary in Saint John is about to become the new uptown storefront for Cannabis NB, as the crown corporation competes to sway customers from illicit shops.

“It really does speak to the fact that there is a market in uptown Saint John, and we want to be there to be able to capture that market and offer the access to the safe, reliable products,” said Lori Stickles, Cannabis NB’s president and CEO, in an interview.

An illegal dispensary was shut down last week, a block away from Cannabis NB’s new location in Saint John. A dispensary in Moncton was also shut down.

Since April 2023, a total of 23 illegal cannabis dispensaries have been investigated and shut down across New Brunswick. It’s estimated, anecdotally by Cannabis NB, that half of all cannabis sales in the province are illegal. 

The new Cannabis NB location in uptown Saint John is expected to be open by mid-April. Cannabis NB is also opening a new location in downtown Fredericton on Queen Street, and in Moncton on Mountain Road around the same time.

Stickles said the new locations were in “underserviced areas.”

“We didn’t necessarily have a lot of opportunities for some of these locations, at launch,” said Stickles, noting initial uncertainty by some property owners in more visible locations before October 2018. “It’s very exciting to (now) be partnering with these landlords.”

Cannabis NB said 25 new employees would be hired for the three new stores, with building leases spanning two-to-five years. Right now, Cannabis NB operates 25 retail locations across the province.

Brad Poulos, an industry expert and business instructor at Toronto Metropolitan University, said increasing accessibility of regulated cannabis supported the primary reasons for legalization.

“Those were keeping cannabis out of the hands of youth, and getting organized crime out of the picture, which really then translates to eliminating that illicit market,” said Poulos. “It’s actually been proven that if you increase access to legal cannabis it lowers the amount of participation by the illicit market, which does itself actually lower use by youth because that’s their primary conduit into cannabis. We’ve seen that in the United States, as well as early studies in Canada.”

New Brunswick’s first privately operated cannabis store opened last June, and a new private retail location will open this summer in Saint Andrews following previous debate in the community about retail formats.

Cannabis NB’s ‘FarmGate’ program has allowed licensed New Brunswick cannabis producers to sell their own products onsite at their own facilities since 2021.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.