Licensees must have a point-of sale (POS) system in the authorized store. The POS system must, at minimum, capture records of all cannabis and cannabis transactions in the authorized store and must be configured and integrated with the automated POS Data Reporting Platform. 

The AGCO and the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) launched the automated POS Data Reporting Platform in 2024 to help reduce your regulatory burden by both simplifying your cannabis reporting requirements and improving its accuracy. All authorized retailers in Ontario are required under Standard 8.6 of the Registrar’s Standards for Cannabis Retail Stores to use an in-store POS system that is fully integrated with the automated POS Data Reporting Platform. 

How It Works

The automated POS Data Reporting Platform automatically extracts, standardizes, and validates the data that you already house in your system. This is done via an Application Programming Interface (API) connection between your POS system and the automated POS Data Platform. The OCS processes the extracted data, shares it with the AGCO, and notifies you of any errors.

The automated POS Data Reporting Platform eliminates the need for monthly preparation and submission of reports and improves the accuracy of the data submitted to better fulfil your provincially- and federally-mandated regulatory reporting requirements.

Your POS provider must set up your system to automatically pull your required provincial and federal regulatory reporting data directly from your in-store POS system. You are responsible for ensuring the POS system you use is configured and integrated with the automated POS Data Reporting Platform. Follow up with your POS provider to confirm connection, in keeping with your regulatory requirements.

Once it is processed by the OCS, the data required for provincial and regulatory reporting will be available for federal regulatory reporting. The OCS populates and completes reports required by Health Canada.

Integration of your POS system with the automated POS Data Reporting Platform enables you to meet your provincial and federal regulatory reporting requirements.

A list of POS providers that are fully integrated with the POS Data Reporting Platform can be found here. For more information about the POS Data Reporting Platform email OntarioCannabisDataReporting@ocs.ca .

Ongoing Data Quality

The automated POS Data Reporting Platform will automatically send you a data reconciliation error notification if the data sent from your POS system does not reconcile with the platform. The notification(s) will list the data reconciliation error(s) that you are required to resolve.

Data reconciliation errors may be generated for a number of reasons, including data continuity issues (i.e., data entry error, invalid transfer) and technical issues (i.e., a problem with the POS system). A list of data reconciliation error messages is available from the OCS Wholesale webpage.

It is important that you promptly resolve any data errors you are notified of to maintain data accuracy and compliance. If you have any questions about specific error messages, contact your POS Provider.

The AGCO validates incoming data to ensure retailers’ compliance with their regulatory obligations. If our validation efforts identify any issues, we may directly reach out to you for resolution. The AGCO does not have direct visibility to the error notifications you receive from OCS and cannot provide resolution. 

NOTE: The automated POS Data Reporting Platform sends error notifications on a weekly cycle. Once you resolve an error, please factor in the time required by the OCS to validate the correction. This may result in the error still appearing on the following week’s error list. Please be patient. Once the new data has been processed and validated, the error should resolve and you will receive a notification reflecting the status change from New/Existing to Resolved.

Continue to resolve any new error notifications you receive. 

What do I need to do?

• Review any data reconciliation error notifications you receive and resolve them as soon as possible to ensure data accuracy and compliance.
• If you require assistance to resolve certain data reconciliation errors, we recommend working with your POS Provider.
• If you are having difficulty resolving errors with your POS Provider, please notify the OCS Customer Care Team by calling 1-877-627-1627.

NOTE: At this time, only one contact can receive data reconciliation error emails for each Cannabis Retail Store Authorization. To update your primary contact for receiving data reconciliation error emails, please reach out to the OCS Customer Care Team by calling 1-877-627-1627.

Need Help?

If you have any questions about specific error messages, or have an accumulation of unresolved errors, please reach out directly to your POS Provider.

For more information, visit: Cannabis Point-of-Sale Data Reporting Platform: Error Notifications Frequently Asked Questions

For questions about your regulatory requirements:

• Refer to Registrar’s Standards for Cannabis Retail Stores
• Contact your AGCO Inspector. If you are unsure who your local inspector is, or have misplaced their contact information, please email compliance@agco.ca with your retail store address to get connected.
• Reach out to AGCO Customer Service at customer.service@agco.ca 

Closing an Authorized Store

If you are a CROL holder permanently closing an authorized store, you must notify the AGCO of your intent to close by:

• Notifying the AGCO through the AGCO Notification Matrix; and
• Submitting a Request to Cancel an Authorization Amendment on the iAGCO online portal.

Prior to the cancellation of the CRSA, the holder must ensure that any cannabis left unsold or undistributed is sold, transferred or destroyed. This means that there must not be any cannabis in the store, and the inventory levels must be reported as zero or null in the point-of-sale system.

If you are selling cannabis to another CRSA holder, you must:

• provide written notice of the sale to the AGCO as part of the ‘Request to Cancel an Authorization’ Amendment in the iAGCO online portal

Once the CRSA cancellation request has been submitted, and both parties have received written correspondence from the AGCO advising as to whether either CRSA is under suspension or whether any proposals to revoke or suspend either CRSA or CROL have been

issued, and the parties proceed with the sale transaction, both parties must accurately document the cannabis sale and purchase transaction as follows:

• The CROL who is closing their store must record the sale of cannabis as an outgoing inter-store transfer in their POS system, identifying the CRSA number of the CROL purchasing the cannabis to indicate where the cannabis is being sold to. This must be completed prior to the cancellation of the CRSA.
• The CROL purchasing the cannabis must record the purchase as an incoming inter-store transfer in their POS system once they have transported it to their store, identifying the CRSA number of the CROL selling the cannabis to indicate where the cannabis was purchased from.
  • Note: Both the purchaser and the seller are responsible for ensuring that the inventory counts match the sale agreement before the cannabis is transported to the purchaser’s retail store.

For detailed regulatory and operational steps required prior to closing a retail store, please refer to the "Request to Cancel a(n) Licence/Authorization” and “Inter-operator Inventory Sales” sections of this guide.

Transfer of a Cannabis Retail Store Authorization

When an CRSA transfers, any existing cannabis inventory transfers with the CRSA. Each CROL holder involved in the CRSA transfer must accurately document the incoming and outgoing cannabis inventory in their respective point-of-sale systems.

When the transfer application is ready to be approved, the AGCO will provide the transfer applicant with guidance on the following steps:

• The CROL receiving the CRSA will be provided with a new CRSA number.
• The CROL receiving the new CRSA number must provide this number to the CROL transferring the CRSA.
• The CROL transferring the CRSA will record the cannabis inventory that remains in the authorized store as an outgoing inter-store transfer in their POS system. The new CRSA number will be used as the recipient where the inventory is being transferred to. This must occur before the transfer application is approved.
• After the transfer application is approved, the CROL receiving the CRSA will receive their authorization by email. The new holder of the CRSA must connect with the OCS to enter into a commercial agreement and engage their point of sale (POS) provider to integrate their in-store POS system with the OCS Data Reporting Platform. Once the POS system is integrated, the CRSA must record the incoming cannabis inventory as an incoming inter-store transfer in their POS system, identifying the old CRSA number as where the inventory was transferred from.

For detailed regulatory and operational steps required for CRSA transfers, please refer to the "Transferring a Retail Store Authorization” section of this guide.

Please refer to the Cannabis Seed-to-Sale Data Entry Guidelines for instructions on entering data into a POS system section of AGCO Cannabis Seed-to-Sale Data Entry Guidelines: e-Learning Module as noted in the Helpful Resources section of this guide. 

Overview

As part of the AGCO’s overall process to ensure compliance with the Registrar’s Standards, laws and regulations, all licensees are required to comply with the minimum notification obligations to the Registrar as outlined in the AGCO’s “Regulatory Reporting Requirements – Cannabis ” (Notification Matrix). They include (but are not limited to)

• reporting incidences of lost or stolen product
• changes to store layout
• failure of surveillance systems
• providing the AGCO with your website address

Standard 1.6 requires operators to comply with these notification requirements, including meeting the required timeframes for submission.

Standard 8.1 requirement 10 took effect June 30th, 2022, and requires operators of authorized cannabis retail stores to track agreements and acceptance of items, benefits or service (in accordance with Standard 6.5) using the AGCO Cannabis Regulatory Reporting Template for Registrar’s Standard 8.1.10 . These records must be made available to the AGCO upon request (as with any other records under Standard 8.1).

Q: What is AGCO’s approved method of destruction?

A: There is no approved method, but your method of choice must comply with Registrar's Standard 3.0.

Q: If I want to use my inventory as a display, can I do that through an inventory adjustment?

A: No, all displays must be purchased at a cost greater than $0.00.

Q: Can I use an item that I have set aside for destruction as display?

A: No, all displays must be purchased as a sale at a price greater than $0.00.

Q: Can I take products out of the inventory at $0.00 for my personal use?

A: No, all cannabis products must be purchased as a sale, at a price greater than $0.00. Cannabis Products provided to any personnel free of charge is in violation of Standard 6.3: “Licensees may not provide cannabis or cannabis accessories free of charge or provide any other thing or benefit, as an inducement for the purchase of cannabis or a cannabis accessory.”

Q: If we receive a return from a customer but the product is lost before being put back into inventory, what is the correct way to enter the data?

A: Follow these three steps:

• Process the return following the instructions in the Return from Customer section in the Cannabis Seed-to-Sale Data Entry Guidelines.
• Remove the product from inventory as Lost/Theft following the instructions in the Lost/Theft section in the Cannabis Seed-to-Sale Data Entry Guidelines course.
• Notify the AGCO of the incident within 1 business day.

For more information about the POS Data Reporting Platform, email OntarioCannabisDataReporting@ocs.ca

For more information about your Ontario Cannabis Data Reporting requirements, email cannabisreporting@agco.ca  

• AGCO Cannabis Seed-to-Sale Data Entry Guidelines: e-Learning Module (Licence Key: 8444-6196-1617-3306) - This AGCO data entry e-Learning module is designed to help retailers understand how to enter retail data into their POS system and maintain accurate, consistent records for a variety of data entry types. For information on how to access the course, see these instructions. 
• Ontario Cannabis Store Wholesale Learn – This website provides Authorized Retailers in Ontario with information on how to work with the OCS.

The AGCO and OCS are committed to ensuring the safe, responsible sale of cannabis in Ontario and will continue to adjust processes to reflect sustainable, scalable solutions.