Cannabis businesses await license to open doors

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

Many Alberta cannabis retailers were raking in the cash on Oct. 17, but Strathmore’s prospective outlets were sitting on the sidelines.
Alberta sold nearly $730,000 worth of legalized marijuana with 8,300 sales the first day of legalization, yet in Strathmore business license fees are still under review and business development permits still pending for at least four cannabis-based businesses. They were unable to reap the rewards last week when Canada became the second country in the world to permit the legalization of recreational marijuana use.
Strathmore wasn’t the only community sifting through hours of legislation and holding public hearings to ensure proper procedures and regulations are in place. Fire & Flower Cannabis Co. received its license from Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis (AGLC), and is one of the applicants currently waiting for municipal approval. The national cannabis retailer currently has 47 applications in various stages across Western Canada. While staff and management prepare for final approval, the company said it understands the complexities involved in the process.
“When you have three orders of government coming together to try and do something that is the first G7 nation in the world to go through (legalization), it’s a lot of fenangling and making sure legislations are interacting between the three orders of government as well as regulators; and we’re seeing different municipalities and different regulators being ready at different times,” said Nathan Mison, vice-president, government and stakeholder relations with Fire & Flower Cannabis Co.
“There’s a lot to undertake when the feds push to the province and the provinces push to the municipality, and the municipalities want to make sure they have citizen input and public hearings and bylaws that requires a lot of finessing.
“We’re more than ready to be patient because we believe in what we’re doing and the product that we’re going to be bringing to the market. As soon as we have the go ahead we open our doors and start educating Albertans and Canadians about what cannabis is.”
On Sept. 19, the Town of Strathmore held a public hearing for the proposed land use bylaw amendments regarding cannabis retail stores. The bylaw dealt with the location and operation of retail stores and provides that all cannabis stores are to be discretionary use only in the central business district – the downtown area – the highway commercial district or the light industrial district. It also sets a standard for separation distances such as a 125 metre (m) distance from schools and parks, a 100 m separation from a hospital or emergency shelter and a 50 m distance from a school in the central business district.
According to the town website, a cannabis store must be standalone, cannabis consumption in the store is not permitted, all businesses in Strathmore require their site to have appropriate land use that allows for the proposed business use, and that all cannabis-related businesses can only operate within specific land uses.
Brook Pries and Cole Bosnick moved their business, the Garden Cannabis Co., into their location south of the highway on Spruce Park Drive a year ago. For the past year, they’ve helped people find pro-cannabis doctors, offered cooking classes and learned about the industry, all in preparation of opening their retail store this year. The business received their AGLC approval in March and while also waiting for development permit approval – along with the Green Easy Ltd. and Odie’s Corner – Pries said the town has been very supportive and accommodating in the process.
“They’ve been really helpful and I haven’t felt like I was being treated negatively,” said Pries, owner and manager. “It’s just when you pass your bylaws on Sept. 19 and then you require a four- to six-week long development permit process it’s impossible, and that’s unfortunate because I would’ve really liked to have been open on the 17th.”
“A lot of retailers are in the same boat that we are. There’s going to be quite a bit of competition. But we’re pretty confident that we can carve out a corner of the market for ourselves. I think people will be surprised at how many people actually do consume cannabis.”
Currently there is no legal sales of cannabis in Strathmore. While products available through AGLC have already hit stores around Canada, marijuana edibles won’t be appearing in stores until next year.
For now, cannabis retailers continue to wait until their applications are approved.