The President and CEO of Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, Alain Maisonneuve issued a statement Nov. 21 stopping the issuance of new licenses.
“Due to the national shortage, AGLC is temporarily suspending accepting new applications and issuing any additional cannabis retail licences until further notice,” he said.
Maisonneuve said that cannabis supply has been a concern in Alberta and across the country since legalization on Oct. 17.
“”AGLC ordered enough product to support up to 250 retail stores in the first six months of legalization; however, as of November 17 we have only received approximately 20 per cent of what we had ordered,” said Maisonneuve.
The AGLC has contacted all federally licensed cannabis producers in an attempt to source product for sale in the province.
“Unfortunately, regardless of our efforts, we are seeing the supply of most products run out,” said Maisonneuve.
With the shortage, the AGLC is working to support the private retails that are already licensed in Alberta.
“We will continue to allocate the majority of our scarce inventory to private retailers.
“We will still maintain some online product to allow consumers in communities where there are not any retail stores to purchase online,” said Maisonneuve.
The AGLC is offering full refunds to all applicants, regardless of what stage of the application process they are in should they decide to withdraw from the licensing application process due to the moratorium on new licenses.
