Cannabis producers in Alberta can now apply for a licence to sell cannabis products from a retail store at their production facility. 

In an announcement on July 2, the province’s cannabis regulator, the AGLC, said that, effective immediately, cannabis suppliers may apply to AGLC for a Cannabis Supplier Retail Store licence permitting cannabis suppliers to sell cannabis products produced at their processing/cultivating facility directly to consumers from a store at their production facility.

A “cannabis supplier retail store” means a store located at the cannabis supplier’s production and/or cultivation facility, also commonly referred to as a cannabis farmgate licence. New Brunswick, Ontario, and BC all have similar programs.

Under the new provincial rules, a cannabis supplier retail store must be located adjacent to the site of the supplier’s cannabis production facility or otherwise be sufficiently close to that site in the opinion of the AGLC’s Board.

The retail location must include a sales area, a separate entrance/exit, the ability to receive products, and a secure storage room and display for cannabis and accessories, among other factors. Drive‐through windows are not allowed.

When a cannabis producer sells its products to its cannabis supplier retail store, the AGLC is required to have received payment prior to the physical movement of the cannabis product from the production facility to the cannabis supplier retail store. The licence holder can transfer the product directly to their retail store after receiving AGLC approval.

A cannabis supplier retail store (farmgate) licensee is not allowed to sell products from other cannabis suppliers, sell cannabis online, sell cannabis to a cannabis store licensee or another cannabis retailer, or deliver cannabis products. 

For stand-alone cultivators who have their cannabis processed and packaged by another processor, an AGLC representative tells StratCann that if the product was produced at the facility the store is located at, and remains that supplier’s brand, final completion of the product may be permitted.

AGLC Inspections will offer direct assistance to any supplier interested in submitting an application. Cannabis suppliers interested in a supplier retail store should contact [email protected].

Cannabis supplier retail store licence applications in Alberta are subject to review and approval by AGLC, with the agency considering factors such as: the appropriateness of the proposed premises; compliance with municipal requirements; Health Canada approval of the proposed premises; and the expressed views of the local community.

AGLC also says it may refuse to issue a cannabis supplier retail store licence if the applicant, any of the applicant’s employees, any of the applicant’s associates, or any person associated with the applicant fails to pass a records check.

AGLC reportedly intended to launch such a program as part of its Red Tape Reduction Act in late 2023, but it was not included due to a procedural error. 

Also, effective immediately, applicants for retail cannabis store positions or registered cannabis representative positions are no longer required to be certified as Qualified Cannabis Workers and, as a result, no longer have to submit an Application for Qualified Cannabis Worker form. In addition, these positions are no longer required to submit a criminal record check from their local police service to the AGLC.

Note: This article has been edited to include more details from AGLC.

Cannabis farmgate in Canada

Ontario was the first province to launch a cannabis farmgate program, which it did in 2021. The first two locations were licensed on April 20 of that year. Ontario currently lists five fully licensed farmgate locations. 

New Brunswick became the second province to announce a cannabis farmgate program, also in 2021, allowing for “on-site selling of in-house products for local LPs, nurseries, and micros.” The province currently lists seven such locations.

StratCann will also be visiting four of those farmgate stores on August 16. 

In late 2022, British Columbia began allowing applications under its farm-to-gate Producer Retail Store licensing model. Since the program’s launch, only three companies have applied. The first opened in 2022, the second was licensed on September 12, while the third opened in 2025.

You can read more about Canada’s cannabis farmgate locations here.

Featured image from Thrive Cannabis in Simcoe, Ontario, one of the first cannabis farmgate stores licensed in Canada.

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