Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph to get pot shops

Cambridge, Guelph and now Waterloo will get provincially run marijuana storefrontsnext summer, the province has announced.

The threecities were informed of the decision on Tuesday. A storefront was announced for Kitchener earlier this month.

• Kitchener to get one of Ontario's first cannabis stores next summer
• LCBO begins scouting pot shop locations in Kitchener

The province has said 40 stores will be open in 2018 with the number rising to 80 by July 2019.

The exact physical locations of the stores are still being determined.

Shayne Turner, director of municipal enforcement services with the City of Waterloo the city wants to have a voice in choosing the storefront.

"There's obviously a great amount of dialogue that has to take place in terms of determining suitable locations," said Turner.

Cambridge MPP Kathryn McGarry said the municipalities and province will now work together to decide the location for her city's store "based on a goal of protecting young people and keeping our community safe."

Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie tweeted his city is getting a cannabis store and in a blog post, said he received a call from the province on Tuesday.

Site scouting underway

The LCBO, which will oversee the marijuana stores, said each municipality will have a say in where a store goes. The province has set out guidelines, including that new stores be easily accessible butnot near any schools.

In a conversation with the LCBO on Nov. 14, City of Kitchener staff were told a real estate broker was already scouting sites.

Gloria MacNeil, the city's director of bylaw enforcement, said they hope the store willbe close to an expressway or transit hub.

"We don't have specific timelines," MacNeil told CBC News at the time. "They did say today that they need to move fairly quickly because they figure they're going to need to start construction in April in order to be up and running by July."