EDMONTON—A shortage of cannabis in Alberta means pot shop Alternative Greens is losing out on the other type of green: money.

The store, in north Edmonton at 12451 97 St. N.W., has closed twice due to lack of product since it opened on legalization day, said manager Roseanne Dampier.

“If the door’s closed, we’re losing money, especially if people are showing up, try the door and it’s locked,” she said.

And with the demand the store has seen, the retailer may be forced to close again soon.

“If we place an order today, we might maybe see it next week,” Dampier said. “So if we start running low before we get that order in, we might have to close for a few days.”

Alberta Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis spokesperson Kaleigh Miller said the problem in the supply chain is with licensed producers, who have not been able to keep up with demand.

Read more:

Albertans literally can’t get enough legal weed, as producers fall behind on supply obligations

Nova Cannabis makes $1.3 million from Alberta stores in first five days of legalization

Post cannabis-legalization, a budding hemp industry takes root in Alberta

“We continue to get shipments, but it’s not at the agreed upon levels … from Day 1, they’ve been low on the shipping,” Miller said.

“This is kind of the first hurdle we’ve faced that we really have no control over,” she added.

Miller could not provide an exact tally of how much cannabis AGLC has in its warehouses, but she said there does not seem to be a “robust amount” across the country, citing stores that have closed as far away as Quebec.

She also did not have numbers for how much product is available on the government’s online order website, but said when she last checked, there were about nine of 115 products available.

“We’re definitely on the lower end, but it’s fluctuating,” she said.

Dampier says that smaller independent retail shops like Alternative Greens are having a harder time getting deliveries than the larger chains. She said they’re receiving shipments of product bi-weekly — if they’re lucky.

Numo Cannabis, at 11733 95 St. in the Alberta Avenue neighbourhood, has faced similar issues. The cannabis store has had to close two or three times since opening, said manager Daniel Nguyen.

“We were out, now we’re fully restocked and should be open for the rest of the weekend … I don’t think anyone could have known how much of a massive demand there was,” he said.

But Nguyen is confident things will get smoother in the new year.

“There’s no way it’s going to continue like this or otherwise stores are going to start shutting down,” he said.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

AGLC works with 15 licensed producers to source its product and said it is actively reaching out to more.

Jeffrey Gossain, vice-president of operations at licensed producer Atlas Growers in Alberta, said the company got a heads up from AGLC that demand has been extremely high.

“We’re ramping up our production just for that exactly,” Gossain said.

After receiving a cultivation licence two weeks ago, it is now in talks with Health Canada to get a sales licence. Gossain said Health Canada has been proactive and “co-operating heavily” to try to get more licensed producers selling in bulk.

“They’re trying to basically speed things up to kind of help get the supply online faster,” he said.

Health Canada has licensed 132 producers nationwide, with nine in Alberta.

In an emailed statement, Health Canada spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau said at the end of September, licensed producers had reported they had shipped more than 14,500 kilograms of dried cannabis and 370 litres of cannabis oil to retailers. They also reported they still had an inventory of 90,000 kilograms of dried cannabis and 41,000 litres of cannabis oil.

“Health Canada remains confident that there is sufficient supply of cannabis overall to meet market demand now and into the future,” she said.

But the federal department acknowledges it has also observed localized shortages in some markets.

“This was expected and will likely continue in the months ahead,” the statement says.

Health Canada says 89 companies have been licensed to produce in the last 16 months, more than double the number of licensees in the prior four years.

The agency has also granted 191 expansion amendments, bringing the total square footage of licensed facilities in Canada from two million square feet to more than 13 million.

Read more about: