Alberta industry thriving after year of legal pot
CALGARY Alberta could host 500 cannabis stores within two years, said an official with the provincial regulator that’s been busier than any other in Canada approving the outlets.
One year past the end of cannabis prohibition, Calgary already has more cannabis stores — 66 — than any other city in Canada with Edmonton second at 48.
Another 154 locations have been approved in Calgary.
And Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis has green-lit 306 retail outlets across the province, a number that will likely grow by 200 by 2021, said Dave Berry, vice-president of regulation for the AGLC.
He noted the regulator predicted 250 stores opening in the province by now, adding “we’ve been pretty accurate and we predicted 500 stores at the end of three years.”
“I don’t see anything changing, I still think it’ll come about, but the market will dictate it.”
That figure is also consistent with the state of Oregon, with a population similar to Alberta’s, that legalized the sale of the drug three years ago.
And those stores could be needed to feed a growing demand.
According to Statistics Canada, the number of Albertans aged 15 or over who’ve used cannabis in the past three months increased from 16 per cent in mid-2018 to 20 per cent a year later, one of the highest rates among the provinces.
At the first anniversary of recreational cannabis legalization, Alberta still easily leads the provinces in retail locations, though others are now catching up, said Berry.
“A few weeks ago, we still had more outlets than all the other provinces combined, but it’s never been a race for us,” he said.
It’s a proliferation that has made pot’s societal reality routine, said Jeff Mooij, one-time president of Four20 Premium Market whose Southland Crossing location was one of Calgary’s first two stores to open Oct. 17, 2018, to considerable fanfare.
“It really was (mainstream) before, it’s even more so now ... my kids will grow up in a world where it’s legit,” said Mooij.
“Nothing was going to change.” But Mooij acknowledges the euphoria borne of novelty on that first day, when hundreds of customers thronged his store while city police officers, for the first time, looked on to ensure they scored their weed safely.
“People wanted to keep their receipts to frame them,” he said.
Calgary police have said they’ve seen no increase in crime or social disruption that could be attributed to cannabis since last October, in a city where alcohol was always more of a lubricant for chaos.
While Calgary banned public consumption of non-medical cannabis, the drug’s normalization could also be seen in the number of summer festivals and events that employed on-site designated toking sites in 2019 — nine.
Not among them was the Calgary Stampede, which stuck solely to its beer gardens.
Even so, stigma remains over the product, said Jamie Burns, CEO of Nova Cannabis and Liquor Depot stores.
“Forty per cent of our sales are in cash, they’re afraid of people knowing and the top request is, ‘Can I have a plain bag?’” said Burns, adding 20 per cent of their liquor sales are in cash.
Despite having more pot stores than any other municipality in Canada, Calgary doesn’t appear to have taken on a glassy eyed sheen, said Matt Zabloski, the city’s lead on the legalization project. From last October until the end of September, the city received 35 complaints of public pot consumption on its 311 line, while Calgary Transit and bylaw officers handed out 24 tickets for that offence.
It’s a surprisingly small number, said Zabloski.
“It’s certainly low compared to what we were told by Denver officials to prepare for,” Zabloski said of the Colorado city that legalized pot five years ago.
City officials have only shut down one illegal cannabis storefront operation and one illicit commercial growing facility, while the AGLC has fined a single Calgary cannabis store — for selling to minors.
“I’m really impressed with the compliance rate, we’ve got legitimate people in the market,” said Berry.
Legalization has added modestly to the city’s tax base in another way: three licensed cannabis producers now operate within city limits with another four in the works.
Cannabis cafes aren’t yet on the horizon and would require legislative approval, though Zabloski noted their arrival in California.
“We’re nonetheless keeping an eye on them to see how they work out,” he said.
The biggest bummer in the past year of liberated weed was a supply shortage that led to a moratorium on new store approvals in Alberta lasting from November to May.
Since then, the supply has considerably bulked up, though some varieties still sell out quickly, said Mooij.
This reporter’s recent visit to one retail outlet in the city’s northwest suggested the same thing.
“It’s the CBD and high THC, that’s what the people want,” said Mooij.
Finding suitable store locations, given the city’s proximity constraints, remains a challenge, he said.
“(Store) saturation will take a bit of time to kick in — the pie keeps growing, there’s definitely more consumers,” said Mooij.
“The problem’s more about location.”
The past year’s rollout of legalized cannabis in Canada should also be viewed from outside the country, said Cam Battley, spokesman for Edmonton-based licensed producer giant Aurora.
“It gives us an entry when we meet with people around the world,” said Battley, who’s recently spent considerable time lobbying overseas.
“One of the things Canadians are missing is what we’ve achieved — we’re hands down the world leader, but if we don’t put strategies in place to maintain that, it will slip away.”
A few weeks ago, we still had more outlets than all the other provinces combined, but it’s never been a race for us.