Two Yellowknife private cannabis stores granted approval

Two private retail cannabis stores have been given permission by the NWT government to open in Yellowknife.

ReLeaf NT will be located at 5123 51 Street while Trailblazers Cannabis Shop will be at 100 Borden Drive (next to the existing uptown Liquor Shop).

Both were selected following requests for proposals issued by the territorial government, a process that began in April 2019.

The territorial government announced selection of the two businesses in a news release on Tuesday. No opening dates for the stores were given.

Yellowknife’s uptown Liquor Shop will no longer sell cannabis, the NWT government stated, instead separating the selling of alcohol and cannabis through the opening of Trailblazers next door.

“Since its legalization in 2018, the Government of the Northwest Territories has envisioned private retailers playing a role in the safe and legal sale of cannabis in the NWT,” finance minister Caroline Wawzonek was quoted as saying.  

ReLeaf NT and Trailblazers will be permitted to sell cannabis under the NWT Cannabis Products Act and have been inspected to ensure compliance with safety requirements, the GNWT said.

Releaf NT opened in April 2019 as a stockist of vaporizers and other accessories. Its owners had planned for the store to become a cannabis retailer.

The GNWT recently began the process of searching for contractors to open cannabis stores in Inuvik, Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Norman Wells, and Hay River