Seventeen Alberta retailers have been issued interim cannabis licences in preparation for the Oct. 17 legalization date, AGLC said Thursday.

Edmonton will have six retail stores open on that date — but the regional number goes to 12 when stores in nearby municipalities of Stony Plain, Spruce Grove, St. Albert, Devon and Fort Saskatchewan are included.

In contrast, Calgary only has two, and Medicine Hat, the only other southern Alberta municipality to receive licences, will get three.

The application process took into account whether retailers had met municipal regulation. Not all municipalities have finalized their bylaws, said Chara Goodings, an AGLC spokesperson.

"We had to look at where they were along in the municipal licencing process," Goodings said. "These are the only ones that will be really ready for the 17th."

Interim licences allow retailers to order and have product shipped to retail locations in preparation for legalization, AGLC said in a news release.

Licensees that fulfil all conditions will be issued a sales licence on Oct. 17 so they are legally ready to open their doors to the buying public.

"We are immensely proud of the hard work that has been put in by AGLC employees to get us to this point," Dave Berry, AGLC's vice-president of regulatory services, said in the news release.

A display of products at Fire and Flower's Edmonton concept store on Jasper Avenue. The company got three of the first batch of retailer licences issued by the AGLC. (Terry Reith/CBC)

Goodings said applications are continuing to be processed "as we speak. We're expecting up to a hundred new stores by the end of October."

After Oct. 17, AGLC anticipates a steady increase in the number of operational stores across the province, predicting there will be about 250 stores in business by the end of December.

Albertans will also be able to buy cannabis online through the government's store at albertacannabis.org.

Deliveries will take between one to five days, according to AGLC.

Here is the full list of interim licenced retail locations: