QUEBEC - The legalization of cannabis will be at the heart of discussions as Quebec and Ontario cabinets meet today in Quebec City.

Senior ministers from both provinces insisted on the importance of harmonizing the rules governing cannabis as they arrived at the convention centre in Quebec City for a seventh joint meeting between the two.

The Ontario government announced earlier this month its plan to open 150 dedicated marijuana stores run by the province's liquor control board, but Quebec hasn't decided on what it will do.

Ontario has also announced that the minimum age for consuming, buying and possessing recreational cannabis in Ontario will be 19, the same as with alcohol.

In Quebec, Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois has promised to introduce a bill with Quebec's framework this fall.

She has spearheaded public consultations in recent weeks on marijuana, which the federal government has committed to legalizing as of July 2018.