Since 2019, the AGCO and the OCS have been implementing a new Point-of-Sale (POS) Data Reporting Platform to automate and standardize monthly regulatory reporting processes for licensed cannabis stores.
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 fulfil mandated provincial and federal government regulatory reporting requirements.
The new platform integrates with the in-store POS platforms of retail stores, automatically collecting and submitting the required data to the OCS. Subsequently, the OCS will share this information with the AGCO, Statistics Canada and Health Canada, ensuring the timely fulfillment of provincial and federal regulatory reporting requirements. Retailers will no longer need to submit Excel-based Monthly Integrated Retail Reports to the AGCO.
On or before April 1, 2024, all cannabis retailers are required to comply with the new Standards, which include using a compatible POS system and fully transitioning to the new platform. Each retailer will be notified by the AGCO when they are subject to the new Standards. For retailers that are ready to transition in the months prior to April 2024, this notification may occur before April 1, 2024.
As of April 1, 2024, the new Standards, the Registrar’s Standards for Cannabis Retail Stores using the Point-of-Sale Data Reporting Platform, will be renamed Registrar’s Standards for Cannabis Retail Stores. The current Registrar’s Standards for Cannabis Retail Stores, which are co-existing with the new Standards, will cease to be in effect.