"Once I see that production is regular ... when I see that the deliveries are being made and I can reopen our doors seven days a week, we will."

It may take “a few months more” before the 12 sales outlets of the Société québécoise du cannabis reopen seven days a week, SQDC president Jean-François Bergeron said on Tuesday.

Just nine days after opening for business on Oct. 17, the dozen stores across Quebec reduced their operating schedules to Thursday to Sunday after restocking problems left most of its inventories sold out.

“Once I see that production is regular — we’re supposed to get deliveries from our suppliers twice a week — when I see that the deliveries are being made and I can reopen our doors seven days a week, we will,” Bergeron said in an interview. “It’s too soon at the moment (to say when) … (but it) may take a few months still.”

Bergeron said any expansion of the SQDC’s retail network would also have to wait until supply problems are ironed out. “The original plan was to have 50 outlets by the end of the first year, but it’s clear that plan will be reviewed in the context of our suppliers’ ability to deliver.”

Bergeron said the SQDC would be issuing calls for supply contracts aimed at smaller scale cannabis producers, adding that supplying cannabis to sales outlets was a nationwide problem. He said that while work hours will be reduced for store staff, no full-time employees would be laid off, noting there was still work to be done even when the outlets were closed to the public.