SQDC opens first set of stores, as Canada legalizes recreational cannabis

Quebec’s government agency, a SkillNet customer, sets up retail operations in record time

On 17th October 2018, the Canadian government passed Bill C-45, or the Cannabis Act. This act gives adults the right to buy, carry and share cannabis for recreational use under certain limits.

Canada allows different provinces and territories to decide how recreational cannabis can be bought and sold. In Quebec, the sale is managed by provincial agency Société québécoise du cannabis (or SQDC, Quebec Cannabis Corporation). The agency, established as a subsidiary of the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ, the Quebec liquor and alcohol corporation), was ready with opening of 12 stores across the province on the same day the act was passed.

Regardless of which side of the legalization debate you sit on, you have to be impressed by SQDC’s ability to establish brand new retail operations from ground zero. Montreal Gazette covered this success in an article that was published a day before the stores were opened, titled “SQDC: First cannabis stores stocked, poised for grand opening Wednesday“.

The article quotes Jean-François Bergeron, vice-president of the Société des alcools du Québec, who is co-directing the SQDC.

“We’ve been working really hard the last 11 months. We’re ready from a store perspective and an e-commerce perspective. We have the inventory on-site, and our employees are ready to open the stores (Wednesday). We’re really excited.”

SkillNet’s team is proud to have helped SQDC get operational with all major retail systems in the new stores for completing sales, collecting payments and managing inventory.

LINKS

Cannabis Act
Montreal Gazette article on 17-Oct-2018 titled “SQDC: First cannabis stores stocked, poised for grand opening Wednesday”