Ontario To Ramp Up The Pace of Cannabis Store Authorizations

Article by Sam Riches, Growth Op

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the organization responsible for regulating cannabis retail in Ontario, will begin issuing 30 cannabis Retail Store Authorizations per week.

The AGCO announced the changes in a blog post earlier this week.

The agency has already increased the pace of RSAs in recent months. In December, the AGCO said it would double its approval pace, and went from issuing 40 RSAs per month to 80.

In the most recent announcement, the AGCO says it will now issue 120 RSAs per month.

The AGCO says it is contacting retail applicants to advise them of their new anticipated issuance date.

The agency has received more than 1,640 RSA applications to date and has issued 489 RSAs, with another 940 applications awaiting processing.

There are currently 430 cannabis retails stores operating across Ontario.

In comparison to booze, there are more than 2,000 alcohol retailers in Ontario, including 450 grocery stores that sell beer and cider, 450 Beer Stores, more than 660 LCBO’s and 280 LCBO Convenience Outlets, in addition to craft brewers.

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