B.C.’s Public Safety minister says major supply challenges are plaguing the legal cannabis industry.

Mike Farnworth says there are about 430 applications for legal cannabis retailers across the province waiting for approvals from either civic, provincial, or both levels of government.

“I think about 390 are in the process of local government approval. At the same time that work is being done I can tell you a significant number of the applications we have received do require a deeper dive because we find alerts that come up in the initial background check.”

Farnworth says while extensive criminal background checks are slowing the provincial process down it is not the only reason for a slow growth in the number of legal cannabis stores.

“Supply is still very much an issue not just here but right across the country. I have raised this at the federal level. B.C. has been pushing the federal level to approve micro-producers for example. Some small scale producers so we can get that supply into the market. It is a challenge not just here but as I said right across the country. It is one of the reasons why in Alberta they had to put a hold on their licences.”

Since cannabis was legalized last October Kamloops has approved almost 20 stores but only two also have provincial approval and are actually open for business.