Residents invited to weigh in on impact of cannabis retail in Aurora

July 23, 2026 · 0 Comments

The Town of Aurora is looking to smoke out residents’ feedback when it comes to the impact of cannabis retail in the community.

A survey was launched by the Town last week inviting residents to share their perspective on cannabis retail stores in Aurora to help inform future discussions by Council and citizen members of Aurora’s Cannabis Retail Task Force.

“The survey is open to all Aurora residents and businesses and seeks input on community experiences, perceptions, and priorities related to cannabis retail stores in Aurora,” said the Town in a statement. “Residents and business owners are encouraged to complete the survey and share their perspectives, whether they have direct experience with cannabis retail stores or simply wish to provide their views.”

The survey follows early meetings of the Town’s Cannabis Retail Task Force which was established by Council to “review and discuss matters related to cannabis retail stores” in the community.

The results of the survey could help the Committee make further recommendations to Council.

“The Committee is examining public safety, business clustering, land-use planning, community perception, economic impacts, bylaw enforcement, potential advocacy efforts, and best practices in comparable Ontario municipalities,” says the Town.

The survey, which is online through the Town’s Engage Aurora platform, was brought forward by Ward 1 Councillor Ron Weese and Ward 5 Councillor John Gallo, both of whom serve on the Cannabis Retail Task Force.

Since its inception, the Cannabis Retail Task Force has identified issues surrounding cannabis retail and has engaged with stakeholders, including the York Regional Police, looking for solutions.

“The Task Force has reviewed information from Town Staff, Bylaw Services, York Regional Police, previous Council reports, provincial regulations, and feedback from residents and business owners,” said Councillor Gallo at the most recent Task Force meeting, which touched upon the development of the survey. “While there may be differing opinions on cannabis retail stores themselves, I believe several themes have emerged that can help guide our work moving forward.

“First, the data suggests that cannabis retail stores on a whole have not created significant Town-wide crime or enforcement issues. At the same time, we have heard from residents and businesses near certain locations who have experienced impacts that may or may not always be reflected with the formal complaints statistics. Those concerns are real and they deserve to be acknowledged. Second, many of the issues raised are not necessarily about cannabis retail operations themselves; rather, they relate to location, clustering, proximity to sensitive uses, and the compatibility of certain locations with the surrounding neighbourhoods and businesses.

“Perhaps most importantly, as we review Aurora’s history on this issue, it became clear that many of these concerns are not new. In 2019, when Council made the decision to opt into cannabis retail stores, it also asked the Province and the AGCO to consider separation distances between stores and setbacks from sensitive uses such as parks, community centres, libraries, daycares, and addiction treatment facilities. Many of the concerns we continue to hear today are remarkably similar to those identified by Council several years ago. This leads to what I believe is one of the key conclusions of our work: the issue is not that municipalities failed to identify potential impacts, the issue is that municipalities were never given sufficient authority to implement many of the safeguards they’ve requested.”

The purpose of the survey is to evaluate the impacts and see where gaps exist, including where issues and complaints are addressed and logged.

During the committee meeting, citizen members suggested elements of criminality – such as customers smoking or otherwise consuming near the retail outlets before getting behind the wheels of their vehicles – were present and that the York Regional Police was “turning a blind eye” to the issue.

“We don’t see a lot of criminality as a result of these places,” York Regional Police Detective Sergeant Bill Newton told the Task Force. “My perspective is they’re not a problem within that community. I understand your concerns. We certainly don’t want anybody driving under the influence. We appreciate anybody calling in at any time if they see that…. I know we’ve responded to multiple calls at some of these stores for people driving high or just finished smoking marijuana and getting in a car. All we can do is respond. We can always suggest complaint areas if it’s something that happens daily. Then we can certainly have our Community Services officers attend the area. But as far as cannabis being an overall big deal, it’s not a big problem with us. We have probably bigger problems at fast food establishments in the area.”

“I think we have to be realistic,” he continued. “You could say that about every licensed establishment… There’s people that have beers or drinks and get behind the wheel of a car. We can’t be everywhere at once. All we can do is respond when reports come in that somebody’s driving under the influence or suspected. We do. It’s not to say that it’s not a problem. Anybody driving impaired or intoxicated is a problem, but in the grand scheme of things, these cannabis operations, we don’t get a lot of reports of criminality coming from them.”

To take the survey and register your views, visit engageaurora.ca/CannabisRetailSurvey.

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter