Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis has sent notices to prospective retailers telling them slight increases in available inventory has allowed the regulator to issue the new retail licences.
The AGLC says it cannot speak to the media about the plans right now but confirmed it is sending notices to affected retailers.
“The increase has been enough for us to issue 26 additional retail licences.”“Since issuing 10 additional retail licences in January of this year, we have seen a modest increase in cannabis inventory available to retailers,” the letter reads.
In November 2018, the AGLC stopped issuing new retail licences. The organization said at the time a national pot shortage meant producers were delivering just 20 per cent of the cannabis that they had agreed to supply.
READ MORE: AGLC says it has only received 20% of cannabis ordered from producers; halting new retail licenses
The AGLC decided it would not allow any new stores to open until supply improved. Since then, the AGLC says it has found new sources of cannabis. In January, it issued 10 new retail licences.
At the time of the licence moratorium, the AGLC had 700 applications from 430 applicants.
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In the letter to retailers, the AGLC said: “We would like to thank you for your patience during this national shortage of legal cannabis.
“While AGLC’s inventory levels have seen improvement, it is not stable enough to fully open the licensing process or accept new retail cannabis applications.
“AGLC continues to scour the country looking for additional product; currently we have contracts with 23 licensed producers and are in conversation with many more.”
The AGLC says it continues to monitor the national cannabis supply and will issue more licences as inventory grows.