4,100 Ontario convenience stores now licensed to sell alcohol starting Thursday

More than 4,100 Ontario convenience stores now have the necessary license to sell alcohol starting at 7 a.m. Thursday morning, 570 NewsRadio has learned.

When accounting for existing alcohol retail sites like LCBO’s, Beer Stores, and grocery stores, it means there will be 6,086 points of sale for alcohol in the province, approximately one for every 1500 Ontarians. 

The Ford government currently prevents cannabis from being sold close to schools and is closing safe consumption sites near schools, yet many of the 4,100 convenience stores licensed to sell alcohol are located in school zones. 

“[Convenience stores have] dealt with everything from tobacco to lottery tickets, now beer and wine, and they’re going to be very responsible,” Ford said at an unrelated news conference in Brampton Tuesday morning, when asked by 570 NewsRadio if he saw any confliction. 

Licensed convenience stores and gas stations will be permitted to sell alcohol between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. seven days a week in what the government has billed as the largest expansion of alcohol sales since the end of prohibition nearly 100 years ago.