After previous president and CEO Jean-François Bergeron stepped down to head Loto-Québec, the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) has appointed Paul Furfaro as interim CEO while the board of directors oversees the recruitment process of a permanent CEO.
While Furfaro may be new to the position of CEO, he’s been with the organization for around three years and became director of branch operations in November 2018.
At the moment, the SQDC operates 68 stores all over Québec, with six in Québec City and seven in Montréal and is the sole entity responsible for the sale and distribution of cannabis in the province. As a crown corporation, profits from the sale of cannabis are reinvested to help aid cannabis research as well as prevention.
Québec has traditionally taken a fairly conservative stance on cannabis legalization and unlike many provinces, has actually repealed regulations to make them more restrictive. In January 2020, the age to buy cannabis in the province increased from 19 to 21, a move that didn’t sit well with a lot of young people, who were forced to return to the black market. Additionally, Québec is one of only two provinces that has a ban, rather than just a tax, on vape products, and even tried to overrule federal regulations that allowed a citizen to grow four cannabis plants for personal use.
This controlled approach seems to be working out, however, as the SQDC and its stores in Montreal and Quebec City boast some of the highest sales per store and sales per day in the country.