Most Ontario cannabis retailers charge a delivery fee on smaller orders, which is waived once you reach a free-delivery threshold that varies depending on the store and delivery speed. Before you check out, look for that free-delivery minimum and check how taxes and excise duty are applied. Medical cannabis shipped from a licensed producer follows a completely different fee structure than recreational delivery from your local store.
TL;DR:
- Delivery fees in Ontario vary based on order size, distance, and delivery speed, with free delivery usually offered above a certain minimum.
- Retailers must staff their own drivers and adhere to strict regulations, which increase fixed costs compared to third-party courier models.
- Taxes and excise duties significantly increase the final cost, making the advertised product prices often lower than the true total at checkout.
- Buyers can reduce or avoid fees by bundling items, choosing standard over express delivery, using promos, or opting for pickup if available.
- Medical cannabis shipping fees differ from recreational delivery, as they follow federal courier rules based on weight and destination rather than local staffing or speed.
Table of Contents
- What determines weed delivery fees in Ontario
- Typical fee ranges and real-world checkout examples in Ontario
- How to reduce or avoid delivery fees
- Medical vs recreational delivery: how rules and fees differ
- Montrose perspective: how we balance speed, compliance and predictable fees
- How to order from Montrose to control delivery fees
- Sources
- FAQ
What determines weed delivery fees in Ontario
A delivery fee isn’t just a random number tacked on at checkout. A few concrete factors decide what you pay, and most of them trace back to how Ontario regulates cannabis retail.
Retailers set minimum-order thresholds and free-delivery tiers to balance customer convenience against the real cost of getting product to your door. Below that threshold, you’re covering part of the delivery cost yourself. Above it, the retailer treats it as a marketing incentive worth absorbing because the order size justifies the trip.
Pricing structures vary by retailer, too. Some charge a flat fee no matter where you live in their service area. Others use distance or zone-based pricing, so a delivery to a nearby neighbourhood costs less than one to the edge of the service map. Same-day or express delivery, including Montrose’s one-hour service in Durham Region and the GTA, often carries a premium because it requires dedicated staff time and route planning that a next-day delivery does not.
There’s also the operational side that customers rarely think about: age verification at the door, compliant packaging that keeps product sealed and discreet, and secure transport all cost the retailer money and time. Those costs show up somewhere, and delivery fees are the most direct place to recover them.
Regulation plays a bigger role than most people realize. Under AGCO rules for delivery and curbside pick-up, only the retailer or its own employees can deliver cannabis. Third-party couriers are off the table entirely. That single rule shapes almost everything else:
- Retailers must staff their own delivery drivers, which raises fixed costs compared to using a gig-economy courier network.
- Delivery can only happen within permitted hours, and orders not delivered in that window must go back to the store.
- Every delivery requires an ID check at the door, adding a few minutes per stop that a courier-app model wouldn’t need.
These requirements, laid out in Ontario Regulation 128/20, explain why Ontario weed delivery often looks and feels different from a typical food delivery app. The fee you’re paying partly covers a more tightly controlled process than most other delivery categories.
Typical fee ranges and real-world checkout examples in Ontario
Here’s the range you should expect to see across most Ontario retailers, based on common patterns retailers advertise: small orders typically carry a delivery fee, free delivery often kicks in at a moderate order amount, and some stores set a higher threshold for same-day or premium delivery windows. None of these numbers are fixed by law. They’re competitive choices retailers make, so it always pays to check the specific store’s checkout page before assuming a number.
Taxes and excise duty are the other piece people forget to check. Cannabis products carry excise duty and an additional cannabis duty calculated under federal rules, and Ontario applies its own adjustment to the additional cannabis duty, noted at 3.9% in federal technical documents, as detailed in the Canada Revenue Agency’s excise duty memoranda. These duties are baked into the product price before you even reach the delivery fee line, and HST applies on top of that. A cheap-looking product can end up costing noticeably more once duty and tax are added, so the sticker price on the shelf is never the full picture.
To see how this plays out at checkout, walk through three simple scenarios:
- You order $25 of flower and pay a $10 delivery fee, plus applicable taxes on the product total, landing well above the sticker price you first saw.
- You order $60 of product and hit a common $50 free-delivery threshold, so the delivery line disappears entirely and you pay product cost plus tax.
- You want a same-day $100 order and the retailer applies an express surcharge on top of the base fee, reflecting the extra staff time needed to fulfill it quickly.
None of these numbers are universal. They’re representative examples meant to show how the pieces combine, not a quote from any specific retailer’s price list.
How to reduce or avoid delivery fees
You have more control over your final total than most people realize. A few small adjustments at order time can shift you from paying a fee to getting free delivery, or at least a smaller one.
- Bundle your order to clear the free-delivery minimum. If a $10 fee kicks in below $50 and your cart sits at $42, adding an $8 pre-roll or a small edible pack often costs less than paying the fee outright.
- Choose standard delivery over express when you’re not in a rush. Scheduled or next-day delivery windows typically avoid the same-day surcharge tied to expedited service.
- Watch for loyalty discounts and first-order promo codes. Many Ontario retailers offer a welcome discount or a subscription-style saving for repeat customers that can offset or eliminate the delivery cost.
- Use pickup or curbside where it’s available. If a store near you offers it, walking in or grabbing curbside pickup skips the delivery fee entirely, since there’s no driver time or transport cost involved.
Pro Tip: Before checkout, do the math on adding one more small item versus paying the flat fee. Nine times out of ten, the extra product costs less than the fee and you get more for your money.
Medical vs recreational delivery: how rules and fees differ
These two paths look similar on the surface, ordering cannabis online and having it show up at your door, but they run on completely different systems with different fee logic.
Medical cannabis comes from a federally licensed producer and gets shipped by mail or courier under rules set out by Health Canada. Shipping fees here work more like standard parcel shipping: they’re tied to package weight, destination, and carrier rates rather than same-day staffing costs. Because federally licensed producers ship Canada-wide, a patient in a remote part of Ontario pays a similar shipping structure to one in downtown Toronto.
Recreational delivery in Ontario works differently by design. The store or its own employees must handle the delivery, it has to happen within permitted hours, and the person receiving it needs valid ID showing they’re old enough to legally purchase. That structure means:
- Recreational delivery speed depends on the retailer’s own staff and local service area, not a national courier network.
- Fees reflect local logistics like distance and staffing rather than package weight.
- Medical shipping fees tend to be more consistent across the province, since they follow standard courier pricing.
The practical takeaway: don’t expect medical shipping fees and recreational delivery fees to behave the same way. They’re built on different rules, and comparing them directly rarely gives you an apples-to-apples answer.
Montrose perspective: how we balance speed, compliance and predictable fees
Some cannabis delivery services emphasize fast delivery within regions like Durham and the GTA. Such speed takes real staffing and route planning, and in some zones, that convenience can carry a premium compared to next-day delivery elsewhere.
Compliance is important. Orders go out in properly sealed, compliant packaging, and deliveries include an ID check at the door to avoid surprises. Curated selections from reputable growers help ensure quality, and offering both recreational and medical options can serve both wellness-focused and casual customers.
Free-delivery thresholds and current promotions may be listed on some sites, and pickup can be an option to skip delivery fees if available.
— Nick
How to order from Montrose to control delivery fees
If you want fast, reliable delivery without any guesswork at checkout, we’ve made it easy to see exactly what you’re paying before you confirm your order.
Here’s a quick checklist before you check out:
- Confirm your city falls within our one-hour delivery zone for Durham Region or the GTA.
- Choose standard delivery instead of express if you’re not in a rush, to keep the fee lower.
- Apply any active promo code before you submit your order, not after.
- Check the free-delivery threshold listed on the shop page so you know exactly how close you are to skipping the fee entirely.
Browse our full selection of flower, pre-rolls, vapes, and edibles on our Ontario delivery page, and if you’re ever unsure about delivery windows, minimums, or which promo applies, our customer support team is there to walk you through it before you pay a cent.
Sources
- AGCO — Delivery and curbside pick-up (Ontario)
- Canada Revenue Agency — Excise duty memoranda: cannabis products
- Ontario regulation O. Reg. 128/20 — Pick up and delivery of cannabis
FAQ
What is $40 worth of weed called?
There’s no official term for this. Casually, people sometimes call it a “quad” or reference it by weight, but pricing and terminology vary by retailer and product type, so it’s more useful to think in grams or product units than dollar slang.
Can I get weed delivered through a food delivery app in Canada?
No. Under Ontario’s delivery regulation and AGCO rules, only the licensed retailer or its own employees can deliver recreational cannabis. Third-party delivery apps are not permitted to handle cannabis orders in Ontario.
How much weed can I send by mail in Canada?
Mailing cannabis privately between individuals isn’t a legal recreational option in Canada. Medical cannabis shipping is handled directly by federally licensed producers under their own packaging and shipping rules, not by consumers mailing product themselves.
How expensive is 1 g of weed?
Prices vary widely by retailer, strain, and product quality, so there’s no single fixed figure to quote. What you pay per gram also depends on excise duty and applicable tax, both of which are calculated on the product price under federal excise rules.
Does Montrose Cannabis offer free delivery?
Montrose lists its current free-delivery thresholds and promotions directly on the shop page, so you can check the minimum before you order. Montrose also offers one-hour delivery in Durham Region and the GTA for customers who want speed over waiting for the free threshold.
