Toronto, GTA to get some of Ontario's first legal pot shops in 2018

The Greater Toronto Area will get some of the first standalone pot shops when marijuana is legalized in 2018, the LCBO announced Friday.

The LCBO and the Ministry of Finance identified the first 14 municipalities that will be home to the LCBO-run stores.

Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and Vaughan were chosen as locations as the federal government prepares to legalize marijuana in 2018.

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The locations of the stores have not yet been chosen, but the Ministry of Finance and the LCBO said they will meet with the chosen municipalities in the coming weeks to discuss options for locations.

They say when a location is chosen, a public notice will be posted online, and at the physical site. The public will then have the chance to ask questions about the location before its officially confirmed. 

The government bodies say their goal is to have shops "not in close proximity to schools, while providing access within communities and addressing the illegal market."

The province plans to set up about 150 standalone shops by 2020. It aims to open 80 by July 2019.

Additional municipalities will be identified on an ongoing basis.

Here is the full list:

• Barrie
• Brampton
• Hamilton
• Kingston
• Kitchener
• London
• Mississauga
• Ottawa
• Sault Ste. Marie
• Sudbury
• Thunder Bay
• Toronto
• Vaughan
• Windsor