In a positive announcement, the Ontario government has ordered the Alcohol & Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) to increase the Retail Store Authorization (RSA) issuance rate. The AGCO announced that it will double the Retail Store Authorization rate from 20 RSAs per month to a maximum of 40 per month beginning this fall.
This is welcome news for Ontario cannabis retail store operators who have been languishing in the AGCO’s store opening queue. Prior to this policy change, the queue to open a new cannabis retail store extended well into the summer of 2021. The AGCO’s increased mandate on RSA issuances presumably cuts the opening queue by half, which means that applicants who pass their initial inspection in the coming weeks will likely still have to wait at least several months before they are permitted to open.
Given the continued backlog, the industry will be waiting anxiously for a further increase to the cap – or its elimination entirely. In all, the AGCO has issued 164 RSAs to date and 150 stores are currently open in all of Ontario. This falls well short of consumer demand in Canada’s most populated province.
Please feel free to reach out if you would like to discuss any of the above or if I can otherwise provide assistance.
Daniel Nashid
Barrister & Solicitor
416.892.2509
[email protected]