Uber Eats and Leafly have announced a partnership to bring cannabis delivery to residents of Toronto, Ontario.

As of today, Torontonians over 19 can order cannabis from local licensed retailers through the Uber Eats platform.

The new partnership marks the first time ever that cannabis delivery is available through a major third-party platform.

“We are partnering with industry leaders like Leafly to help retailers offer safe, convenient options for people in Toronto to purchase legal cannabis for delivery to their homes, which will help combat the illegal market and help reduce impaired driving,” says Uber Eats Canada General Manager Lola Kassim. “Over the last few years, we have invested heavily in our delivery business and selection has expanded tremendously.”

Legal Sales, Safe Deliveries

Kassim says Uber Eats has expanded fast to become a versatile, usable platform for diverse businesses of all sizes.

The first three dispensaries to offer Uber Eats-Leafly cannabis delivery are Hidden Leaf Cannabis, Minerva Cannabis, and Shivaa’s Rose.

According to the Ontario Cannabis Store Annual Report for 2020-2021, Ontario’s illicit cannabis market accounts for 50 percent of all nonmedical sales.

Uber Eats says that aside from combating black market sales, its cannabis delivery service should reduce impaired driving.

Citing Public First data, Uber Eats says one in seven (14 percent) cannabis users admit driving within two hours of consumption.

“Leafly has been empowering the cannabis marketplace in Canada for more than four years, and we support more than 200 cannabis retailers in the GTA,” says Leafly CEO Yoko Miyashita. “We are thrilled to work with Uber Eats to help licensed retailers bring safe, legal cannabis to people across the city.”

Easy Ordering

Customers must be within the licensed retailer’s delivery radius to place an order.

First, customers must select the Cannabis category or search for one of the retailers in Uber Eats.

After a customer confirms their age and makes their purchase, they will receive notifications when the retailer accepts their order and the estimated delivery time.

Instead of independent third-party delivery personnel, only the retailer’s CannSell-certified staff will make the deliveries.

When the driver arrives with the delivery, they will verify the purchaser’s age and sobriety.

“Hidden Leaf has been providing safe, legal cannabis to Torontonians at three locations over the last year-and-a-half,” say Hidden Leaf Owners Dale and Marissa Taylor. “We are a small business, and this partnership is a great way for us to expand our reach and grow our business across the city.”

By Benjie Cooper

Raised on geek culture, Benjie has been in cannabis news since 2014, and a consumer since long before that. Before starting CannaGeek, he wrote for the Candid Chronicle and co-hosted the Nug Life Radio Show.

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