No cannabis store for Nunavik, but online orders ready to go

An artist’s rendering of what the new Société Québécoise du cannabis stores will look like. Residents of Nunavik can start to order cannabis online through the SQDC on Oct. 17 at 9 a.m. (IMAGE COURTESY OF SQDC)

Quebec’s cannabis stores will open their online order system at 9 a.m. on Oct. 17—the only way residents of Nunavik will be able to obtain legal marijuana, at least for now.

Starting on Wednesday, residents across Quebec can make online or in-person purchases at one of the province’s 12 Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) stores.

No SQDC branch is planned for Nunavik at this point, the agency confirmed, but the online system will offer service in French and English once it launches on Oct. 17.

Customers will be able to order from a selection of 150 products, available in dried, fresh or oil format, the SQDC said.

Currently legislation in Quebec set the minimum age for consumption at 18, but that could change.

The new Coalition Avenir Québec government, headed by premier François Legault, has pledged to introduce stricter rules around cannabis use, like raising the minimum age to 21 years and imposing a blanket ban on consumption in public places.

But those new rules won’t be introduced until the next session of the National Assembly.

Similarly, municipalities can still introduce their own bylaws to manage cannabis use locally, as Nunavik communities have said they will consider.

Regional organizations like the Kativik Regional Government or Kativik Regional Police Force haven’t had much to say about how the new legislation will roll out in Nunavik just yet.

The Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services is hosting a multi-organization meeting on the subject on Oct. 17.

The price of government-regulated cannabis in Quebec has yet to be announced, but it’s expected to be among the lowest in Canada at less than $7 a gram.

While the federal legislation allows for the home cultivation of up to four marijuana plants for personal consumption, Quebec’s own legislation bans that.

Across the province, consumers who are caught keeping cannabis in a place where minors can access it could faces fines anywhere between $250 and $750.