Effective January 2025, cannabis secure storage requirement policies are amended as follows:
- SLGA no longer requires retail and wholesale permittees to build separate cannabis secure storage areas within the store/warehouse. General security standards remain in effect for alarm systems, digital camera security systems, and perimeter security as found in the Appendix: Facility Security to the Cannabis Regulatory Policy Manual, but the cannabis storage and alternative cannabis storage sections of the Appendix have now been repealed. Permittees may still choose to build storage areas and vaults under the normal floorplan approval process, but SLGA will no longer specify minimum physical security requirements for those spaces and no engineer’s report will be required as part of the approval process.
- Retail and wholesale permittees are no longer required to store cannabis in a separate secure storage area within the store/warehouse outside of operating hours. Cannabis products must still be secured against unauthorized access, but permittees will be able to decide what this looks like depending on the type of business they operate. For example, a standalone store might leave all products in display cases on the sales floor or continue to secure some or all products in a storage room or vault, while a type two integrated store that operates 24 hours a day would need to ensure that all cannabis products were locked up after authorized cannabis retailing hours. SLGA will continue to monitor for any issues related to customer access to cannabis, cannabis sales outside of authorized hours, and failure to take reasonable steps to prevent diversion of cannabis to the illicit market as required under federal and provincial law.
The Cannabis Regulatory Policy Manual will be updated in the near future to reflect these changes, but in the meantime if you have any questions please feel free to contact your SLGA inspector or email cannabisinquiries@slga.com.