An application for a cannabis retail store in High Prairie has been filed by Urban Leaf Inc. for 5113 – 53 Avenue.

Three applicants to operate cannabis retail stores in the High Prairie region will have to wait for approvals for licences by the Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) when marijuana becomes legal Oct. 17.

While some applicants have filed for municipal development permits, final approvals for licences will come in the fall.

“Licences won’t be approved until Oct. 17,” ALGC spokesperson Heather Holmen says in an interview with the South Peace News.

She says that a development permit approved before that does not assure an applicant of a cannabis retail licence which will be determined by the AGLC.

“They still have to meet AGLC application requirements in order to be eligible for a retail licence,” Holmen says.

“Then it will move over the municipalities for local approvals.”

Two applications in High Prairie include Urban Leaf Inc. for 5113 – 53 Avenue and Peace Leaf of Grande Prairie for 4838 – 51 Avenue, Town of High Prairie development clerk Marion Glodde confirms.

Urban Leaf has withdrawn its application for 4825 – 51 Avenue, the former Rona building, she says.

Gerald Millett has applied for a licence in Kinuso under the applicant name 2101036 Alberta Inc. to operate under the business name DJ’s Herb Shoppe on Centre Street.

Holmen says licences will also be approved according to municipal bylaws and regulations, which are varied and different across the province.

While the Town of High Prairie supports retail cannabis stores, Big Lakes County has proposed to close the door on the business.

County council has set a public hearing for Sept. 12 to present a bylaw that proposes to prohibit retail stores in hamlets.

Under council direction, the bylaw proposes that cannabis stores would not be allowed to locate within 100 metres of a residential area.

The number of retail businesses approved in the province remains unknown.

“It’s hard to know how many licences will be approved when cannabis becomes legal in October,” Holmen says.

Successful applicants approved for a cannabis retail licence will be listed on the AGLC website on Oct. 17 under the cannabis section, Holmen says.

About 800 applications have been filed since the AGLC opened the process on March 6, she says.

Applications for licences will be ongoing.

With a 70-page application form, the process is extensive and includes a total of about $4,000 in deposits, she says.

An application for a cannabis retail store in High Prairie has been filed by Peace Leaf of Grande Prairie for 4838 – 51 Avenue.