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Below is a brief excerpt from a complementary research note written by our Cannabis analysts Howard Penney and Daniel Biolsi. We are pleased to announce our new Sector Pro Product Consumables Pro. Click HERE to learn more. |
At the beginning of this month, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) announced that it planned to double the number of cannabis retail store authorizations (RSA) it licenses per month this fall – moving from issuing 20 RSAs per month to an implied 40 RSAs per month.
To date, the AGCO has issued 194 RSAs and 173 authorized cannabis retail stores are currently open. As of September 28, the commission will move from issuing five to 10 RSAs each week.
AGCO has been directly contacting all affected retail store applicants to advise them of the change to the timing of the issuance of their store authorizations.
The province has a population of 14.7M people or roughly 40% of the country’s population, however as of the most recent Health Canada date, Ontario made up just 26.0% of total legal sales.
Meanwhile, Alberta has a population of 4.4M people or roughly 12% of Canada’s population – its sales made up 22.4% of the nation’s total legal sale.
The unit growth in the province will provide operators with a retail presence there (CGC, HITIF/META, FFLWF) with an expansion opportunity and will hopefully help in narrowing the illicit market
