CALGARY—Before any cannabis store in Calgary opens its doors for business, it’ll need staff — perhaps you.

As the City of Calgary continues to approve and deny cannabis stores, companies are already starting the process of hiring dozens of people as floor staff, cashiers, and managers. Selling cannabis is ultimately a retail gig, albeit one involving a substance which (even today) remains illegal to have or sell for non-medicinal purposes. And employers admit that finding staff with legal cannabis handling experience is tricky at best.

“When you’re doing a standard opening in any industry, you always are looking for experience, and this is a case when the employers — and ourselves — don’t have that luxury,” said Mike “Kato” Tomiyama, chief operating officer with 420 Premium Market. The company is holding a job fair at the BMO Centre on Aug. 14, and intends to hire for about 150 positions in and around Calgary.

But if you’re looking to get your foot in the door, you may find that you already have all the experience you’ll need. Major cannabis retailers with a presence in Calgary, such as 420 Premium Market, say they’re mainly looking for people with a good work ethic, but experience in the hospitality or retail sectors would be a bonus.

“We’re looking for people who have customer service experience, so, we recognize that most people are not going to have a direct experience in the cannabis industry,” said Angus Taylor, chief administrative officer with NewLeaf Cannabis.

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NewLeaf held job fairs on Wednesday and Thursday at two of its locations in Calgary. Taylor said the company’s looking to fill 100 to 125 positions in the city — floor staff, managers, and assistant managers — with a grand total of around 200 across the province.

“We had over 100 people (Wednesday), and the start of (Thursday) was busy as well. We’re really happy with the turnout,” Taylor said.

There is one major difference between selling weed and, say, winter clothing. Before you start on the job at a cannabis store, you’ll need to pass SellSafe — the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission’s training program for cannabis retailers, similar to its program for liquor store workers.

“It’s not a prerequisite to apply, but if we want to hire you, we’ll ask you to take the course,” Taylor said.

SellSafe is designed to teach you how to avoid selling bud to an underage teenager, how to talk about the risks of using cannabis, and how to tell if a customer is already intoxicated, according to the AGLC. The program costs $26.25, including taxes, takes about four hours to finish, and is valid for five years. You’ll also need to submit an application to the AGLC to be a cannabis retail worker, as well as a criminal record check.

Once you pass, you’ll need to hang on to your certification — an AGLC inspector can ask for it at any time.

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And if you’re actually hired at a store, you might also get further on-the-job training. NewLeaf intends to train new hires in all the intricacies of cannabis strains, types, and effects — enough that they’ll be able to make recommendations to first-time cannabis buyers.

The pay scale for Calgary cannabis store employees is still a bit up in the air. Taylor declined to give a precise figure, although he said NewLeaf would pay over minimum wage. But Tomiyama said 420 Premium Market’s rate will probably be between minimum wage and $18 per hour for floor positions — not including managers, who’ll be paid a higher rate. In other words, roughly on par with the Alberta retail industry.

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