Through the Ontario Cannabis Legalization Implementation Fund (OCLIF), the province has provided municipalities with approximately $44 million in funding to help with the implementation costs of recreational cannabis legalization. OCLIF was distributed as follows:
Ontario also invested $3.26 million to support municipalities through enhanced enforcement against illegal cannabis operations.
In 2018, the province committed that, if Ontario’s portion of the federal excise duty on recreational cannabis over the first two years of legalization exceeds $100 million, the province would provide 50 per cent of the surplus only to municipalities that did not opt-out of hosting private retail stores as of January 22, 2019.
The final OCLIF payment delivers on the commitment.
The province is providing approximately $4 million to 366 municipalities through the final payment under the OCLIF, bringing the total funding for municipalities through this program to approximately $44 million.
Municipalities must use their OCLIF funding to address the implementation costs that directly relate to the legalization of recreational cannabis. Examples of permitted costs include:
Lower-tier and upper-tier municipalities received a 50/50 split of the allocations made on a per household basis. Decisions to adjust the split in allocation and transfer funding can be made at the local level as needed. In the second, third and final payments, upper-tier municipalities received funding in relation to opt-out decisions made by the lower-tier municipality. If a lower tier municipality opted-out, the upper tier municipality did not receive funding on a per household basis in relation to that municipality.