GrassBar location in Meadow Lake. (GrassBar Meadow Lake/Facebook)

By Kenneth Cheung

NEW BUSINESS

Fourth cannabis shop gets green light in North Battleford despite concerns

May 28, 2025 | 5:03 PM

North Battleford is getting a fourth cannabis retailer after city council approved a development permit during it Monday’s meeting, despite concerns from a local business owner about market saturation.

The store, operated by GrassBar Cannabis in partnership with Red Pheasant Cree Nation, will be located in the Eagle’s Landing strip mall on 115th Street.

“We’re always encouraged to see new business development in the city,” Mayor Kelli Hawtin said. “Right from the get-go, this council has said that we want to encourage business development and growth, and we want to see more of that activity in the city.”

The application met all zoning requirements, including the 225-metre buffer from schools, parks, libraries and recreation facilities. Letters of support from Red Pheasant and Beauval Development Inc. were included in the approval package, along with confirmation from the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) that the proposed floor plan meets provincial regulations.

GrassBar co-owner Jason Keeling said the North Battleford location will create between 12 and 15 jobs and build on the company’s existing footprint, which includes stores in Meadow Lake, Buffalo Narrows and Emerald Park.

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He said the business has also been active in community initiatives in other locations, including food drives, support for the homeless, and sponsorship of local festivals and Chamber of Commerce events.

“Because we are part of the communities that we’re involved in…It’s really important to us that we engage and participate,” Keeling said. “This will be our first step into North Battleford, and we’re excited to bring our unique, Saskatchewan-focused brand to this community.”

He said the store also marks a shift away from unregulated cannabis sales previously conducted through a mobile unit operated by Red Pheasant.

“The intent was to essentially have this be that cannabis provider body from the same distributors as other cannabis regulated providers, like 5Buds, Fire & Flower, like downtown Rockshop as well,” he said.

Not everyone supported the application.

Dale Whiteside, owner of Rockshop Cannabis in downtown North Battleford, told council the market is already crowded.

“I’m open 10 hours a day, my sales aren’t outrageous, I’m not making a million dollars, and I’m sure the other stores aren’t making a million dollars a year,” he said.

“What’s going to happen is the city is going to get over-saturated with cannabis stores, nobody’s going to make any money whatsoever, and then it’s going to become the city of open and close.”

“We don’t want to be known as the town or the city that has too many liquor stores and too many cannabis stores. I think that makes a very horrific image.”

Currently, the city has three licensed cannabis retailers: Fire & Flower, 5Buds, and Rockshop Cannabis.

Hawtin acknowledged the concern but said the city’s zoning bylaw does not limit the number of cannabis retailers.

“We don’t have any parameters in our zoning bylaw at this point to limit the number of businesses,” she said. “We leave that to business development to decide if there’s an opportunity. But I think it was a point well worth noting, and something that the council might keep in mind in the future.”

Hawtin also emphasized that cannabis retailers differ from other types of regulated businesses in terms of their impact on neighbourhoods.

“These aren’t businesses that have patronage sitting in them using their product… It’s more of a retail store,” she said.

GrassBar must still obtain a retail licence from SLGA before opening. The development permit will expire May 26, 2026, if operations have not started by then.

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com