All cannabis retailers in Ontario will be subject to new regulatory reporting requirements by April 1, 2024, according to a recent memo from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).
New Data Reporting Platform
Since 2019, the AGCO and Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) have been implementing a new POS Data Reporting Platform to automate and standardize monthly regulatory reporting processes for licensed cannabis stores.
The AGCO says, “The solution is designed to help reduce the burden on retailers of manual data collection and improve operational efficiencies for retailers. It will automatically extract, standardize, and automate required monthly reports directly from data already housed at the retailers’ point of sale—providing automated on-demand reports and eliminating the need for manual monthly report preparation and submission. It will also improve data accuracy to better fulfill mandated provincial and federal government regulatory reporting requirements.”
The new platform integrates with the in-store POS platforms of retail stores and automatically collects and submits the required data to the OCS. The OCS shares this information with the AGCO, Statistics Canada, and Health Canada. Retailers will no longer have to submit Excel-based Monthly Integrated Retail Reports to the AGCO.
Comply by April 2024
All cannabis retailers in Ontario are required to comply with the new standards on or before April 1, 2024. This includes a compatible POS system and transitioning to the new platform. The AGCO will notify retailers when they are subject to new standards.
Other Proposed Regulatory Changes
Earlier this month, the province announced it plans to increase the number of stores that licensed cannabis retail operators can operate from 75 to 150 to respond to the growth of the legal cannabis market and illicit cannabis stores.
This regulatory change was included in a backgrounder from the Attorney General and Solicitor General but has not yet been passed.
As well, in January, the OCS will be launching a pilot program to test THC in dried flower products in order to properly evaluate industry claims that THC values may be overstated.