Looking to buy some cannabis? One of Ottawa’s retail shops is charging a little more than the others.
There are three licensed retailers in Ottawa: Superette on Wellington Street West, the Hobo Recreational Cannabis Store on Bank Street, and Fire & Flower on York Street.
Superette and Hobo both include HST in their listed prices for customers, but Fire & Flower adds the 13 per cent tax onto its listed prices.
This means the price of a two-pack of pre-rolled joints — which lists on the provincially run online Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) for $16.85 plus $5 for shipping — costs $16.95 at Hobo but $19.04 at Fire & Flower. It’s a difference of $2.09.
While the government does set a price floor for cannabis products, it does not set a price ceiling or dictate whether retailers should include HST in the list price or add it at the register.
Rob Cherry, vice-president of merchandise for Fire & Flower, said most retailers don’t include taxes in their list price.
“Our strategy and pricing in general was to take OCS’s pricing and add the tax,” Cherry said.