Uber Eats and Leafly team up to deliver cannabis to Torontonians

Uber Eats will begin offering cannabis deliveries for three Toronto cannabis stores starting Monday, October 17.

The announcement, made on October 16, includes a partnership with Leafly. Uber Eats will offer deliveries for Toronto cannabis stores Shivaa's Rose, Hidden Leaf Cannabis and Minerva Cannabis.

The three retailers will have to provide their own certified and trained staff for deliveries, but consumers will be able to place their orders in the Uber Eats «cannabis» category.

The consumer experience will be similar to ordering food through Uber Eats, with the customer notified when the order is accepted and processed. Ontario cannabis rules do not allow independent third-party delivery services for cannabis, so deliveries will always be made by store staff trained by CannaSell, Ontario's cannabis retailer training and certification program.

Uber Eats first offered its users the opportunity to order cannabis-based products for pick-up at Tokyo Smoke last November, but did not offer a delivery option at the time. The new agreement with Leafly also means that retailers won't have to manage their own menus. Leafly provides menu lists for many Canadian cannabis retailers.

Uber Eats says it is offering these services to provide more delivery options for the Toronto area.

«We're partnering with industry leaders like Leafly to help retailers offer safe and convenient options for Toronto residents to purchase legal cannabis for home delivery, which will help fight the illegal market and reduce impaired driving,» said Lola Kassim, general manager of Uber Eats Canada in an press release of the company.

«Over the past few years, we've invested heavily in our delivery business, and the selection has grown enormously. Uber Eats has grown rapidly to become a versatile platform that can be used by a variety of businesses, large and small.»

This world-first introduction of cannabis delivery by a conventional delivery platform comes at the same time as the 4^e anniversary of the legalization of cannabis in Canada.

«We applaud Uber's historic decision to partner with Leafly, an online cannabis marketplace and information source,» says Charlie Bowman, President and CEO of HEXO. «This historic partnership is an important step forward for the Canadian and global cannabis markets, and will be crucial in strengthening the industry's credibility.» 

Canada's legal cannabis market continues to be recognized as a world leader, serving as a model for other countries as perceptions surrounding cannabis use progress and evolve. With notable partnerships such as Uber and Leafly, coupled with simultaneous developments in cannabis research and production, the future of the Canadian cannabis market is dynamic and ever more impressive.

Getting cannabis delivered in Canada

Ontario has begun temporarily authorize cannabis delivery and collection in early 2020 due to restrictions imposed by COVID-19. In early 2022, the rules were made permanent.

L’Alberta has also begun to authorize cannabis stores to make deliveries in March 2022, but specifically banned third-party delivery services such as cabs, Uber Eats and Skip the Dishes.

In July 2021, British Columbia announced that retailers would be able to make their own cannabis deliveries. Then, in March of this year, the British Columbia government also announced that it would begin making deliveries from its BC Cannabis Store online via a third-party delivery service, Pineapple Express.

In July of this year, British Columbia announced that the private cannabis stores in the province could also make deliveries via common carriers such as Canada Post and other delivery service providers.

All Canadian provinces and territories offer a variety of delivery options, whether from stores or a provincial online store. Manitoba and Saskatchewan also offer cannabis delivery options to retailers, just like Quebec, New Brunswick, Yukon, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut and Northwest Territories.