Want pot? Ottawa cannabis shops don't all charge the same prices

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 RecreationalCannabis Store on Bank Street, and Fire &Flower on York Street.

Superette and Hobo both includeHST in their listed prices for customers, but Fire &Flower adds the 13 per cent tax onto itslisted prices.

This means the price of a two-pack of pre-rolled joints which lists on the provincially runonline Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS)for $16.85 plus $5 for shipping costs $16.95 at Hobobut $19.04 at Fire &Flower. It's a difference of $2.09.

While the government does set a price floor for cannabis products, itdoes not set a price ceiling or dictatewhether retailers should include HSTinthe list price or add it at the register.

Rob Cherry,vice-president of merchandise for Fire &Flower, saidmost retailers don't include taxes in their list price.

"Our strategy and pricing in generalwas to take OCS's pricing and add the tax," Cherry said.

"On top of that we're adding the experience of the store, we're adding curation, we're adding customer experience, we've got a great assortment of accessories. It's a fantastic store experience, beautiful store, so we're essentially throwing that in."

The Hobo cannabis shop has taken a different approach.

Harrison Stoker, vice-president of brandfor Donnely Group, which operates the Hobo chain of cannabis stores in Canada, saidthe companydecided to mirror the prices on the OCS website.

"We decided we wanted that element of familiarity in pricing.Although we dotechnicallyhave a premium retail experience, we didn't want to raise our prices to reflect any premium nature because it's the same produce that everyone else is selling," Stoker said.

Hobo has been forced to close some days due to supply issues as each store is only allocated 25 kilograms a week of product from the provincial regulator.

Superette, the other licensed retailer in Ottawa, also mirrorsOCS pricing on itsproducts.