Cannabis in Toronto
Toronto opted in to legal cannabis stores in December 2018, but the city has no say over where they open: the only location rule is Ontario's 150-metre buffer from schools, which is why shops cluster on strips like Queen Street. In parks you can't smoke or vape cannabis within 20 metres of playgrounds, sports fields, pools and similar spots, and never on swimming beaches.
Where can you smoke cannabis in Toronto?
Ontario lets adults smoke or vape cannabis wherever tobacco smoking is allowed (see the Ontario rules). Toronto adds its own limits in parks. Rather than banning smoking across a whole park, the city's parks rules set 20-metre no-smoking zones around the places people gather, and name cannabis explicitly.
The city's smoking bylaw also covers lit cannabis at building doors: no smoking near the entrance or exit of any building the public or employees can enter, from offices and malls to restaurants and apartment buildings with shared lobbies. Toronto's public squares have their own no-smoking bylaw.
| Place in a park | Rule |
|---|---|
| Sports fields, playgrounds, splash pads, wading pools | Not within 20 metres |
| Skateboard and BMX parks, ski hills, outdoor pools and decks | Not within 20 metres |
| Covered picnic shelters, gazebos, outdoor theatre spaces, washrooms | Not within 20 metres |
| Swimming beaches, zoo and farm areas, off-leash dog areas, lineups | Not allowed |
| Open lawn away from those facilities | Not covered by the parks rules; provincial rules still apply |
Why are there so many cannabis stores on some Toronto streets?
Council voted 20-4 on December 13, 2018 to allow private stores, and in the same meeting asked the province for power to keep them away from community centres, youth facilities and each other. That power never came. Under Ontario's system a licensed store can open anywhere ordinary retail is allowed, as long as it is at least 150 metres from a school. The city can comment on an application to the provincial regulator (AGCO), but it can't refuse one.
The result was clustering. By 2020 a three-kilometre stretch of Queen Street West had 23 stores open or on the way, and four applications landed on a single block of Queen Street East across from a community centre, library and children's drop-in. Council asked the AGCO to weigh nearby services for children and vulnerable adults when it reviews applications, but the 150-metre school buffer is still the only hard rule.
How has cannabis in Toronto changed since 2018?
Toronto had a large grey market before legalization. In May 2016 police ran Project Claudia, raiding 43 storefront dispensaries in one day after the city warned landlords that the shops broke zoning rules. Some reopened within days.
Legal sales started slowly. Ontario held a lottery in January 2019 for just 25 licences province-wide because of supply shortages, and five went to Toronto. The city's first legal store opened on April 1, 2019, more than five months after legalization. The cap was later lifted and the number of stores grew quickly.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| May 2016 | Project Claudia: police raid 43 unlicensed dispensaries |
| October 17, 2018 | Legalization; online sales only in Ontario |
| December 13, 2018 | Council votes 20-4 to allow private stores |
| January 2019 | Provincial lottery: 5 of 25 licences go to Toronto |
| April 1, 2019 | First legal store opens in Toronto |
| July 2020 | Council asks the AGCO to weigh nearby community services after clustering on Queen Street East |
What should visitors to Toronto know?
You must be 19 to buy or use cannabis in Ontario. Toronto Pearson bans smoking and vaping cannabis anywhere on airport property. Flying within Canada with cannabis is allowed within the legal limit, but carrying any amount across an international border, edibles included, is a crime, and Pearson warns that a flight diverted outside Canada can leave you exposed too.
Legal stores display the provincial authorization; unlicensed shops still exist. If you're unsure what a package contains, see how to read a cannabis label.
