'The world has changed dramatically': 5 years of legal cannabis in northern Ontario

At Thanksgiving dinner, while his older relatives were sipping beer and wine, John Borowski pulled out a Creamsicle-flavoured cannabis drink.

And no one batted an eye. 

The 40-year-old Sudburian, who first tried marijuana when he was 12, doesn't believe that would have happened five years ago.  "The world has changed dramatically," said Borowski. 

"Because we're talking about huge generation gaps."

Borowski was at first skeptical of the government-regulated dispensaries, which didn't come to Ontario until the spring of 2019, but now he is a regular customer and has stopped buying on the black market, where he says he was paying twice as much for cannabis.

"The product is cheaper. I think that's so cool and there's a variety and there's sales," he said. 

"I think it's working. I think it's genius actually. And there's more dispensaries than there are McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, etc."

The number of dispensaries in northern Ontario has gone from six in 2020 to over 100 in 2023. Ontario Cannabis Store, which supplies all the provincially-regulated pot shops, says 142 stores in the north were selling its products this year.

And cannabis sales in northern Ontario have gone from $15 million in 2020 to $116 million during just the first eight months of 2023. 

"Definitely way more complicated marketplace than five years ago," said Eugene Konarev, the CEO of Highlife, which had the first licensed dispensary in northern Ontario back in 2019.

"The competition is extremely fierce."

Highlife has gone from that one store in New Sudbury to 16 across the province, including six in the north. 

Konarev says because of the crowded marketplace, most are pricing their products down to compete and the restrictions on advertising outside of the store means trying to get customers already coming in to spend more.

He says research shows that about 20 per cent of the population are regular cannabis users that spend about $100 per month and flower cannabis still greatly outsells edibles and concentrates.