This bud's for northern Alberta: On Oct. 17, most cannabis retailers will be in the Edmonton region

Seventeen Alberta retailers have been issued interim cannabis licences in preparation for the Oct. 17 legalization date, AGLC said Thursday.

Edmonton will have six retail stores open on that date — but the regional number goes to 12 when stores in nearby municipalities of Stony Plain, Spruce Grove, St. Albert, Devon and Fort Saskatchewan are included.

In contrast, Calgary only has two, and Medicine Hat, the only other southern Alberta municipality to receive licences, will get three.

The application process took into account whether retailers had met municipal regulation. And not all municipalities have finalized their bylaws, said Chara Goodings, an AGLC spokesperson.

"We had to look at where they were along in the municipal licencing process," Goodings said. "These are the only ones that will be really ready for the 17th."

Interim licences allow retailers to order and have product shipped to retail locations in preparation for legalization, AGLC said in a news release.

Licensees that fulfil all conditions will be issued a sales licence on Oct. 17 so they are legally ready to open their doors to the buying public.

"We are immensely proud of the hard work that has been put in by AGLC employees to get us to this point," Dave Berry, AGLC's vice-president of regulatory services, said in the news release.

Goodings said applications are continuing to be processed "as we speak. We're expecting up to a hundred new stores by the end of October."

After Oct. 17, AGLC anticipates a steady increase in the number of operational stores across the province, predicting there will be about 250 stores in business by the end of December.

Albertans will also be able to buy cannabis online through the government's store at albertacannabis.org.

Deliveries will take between one to five days, according to AGLC.

Here is the full list of interim licenced retail locations:

• Daily Blaze, 1-5009 50th St., Stony Plain

• Green Exchange, 328 South Railway St. SE, Medicine Hat

• Nova Cannabis at Southpointe, 101-9310 Southfort Dr., Fort Saskatchewan

• Nova Cannabis at Grove Landing, 17 Nelson Dr., Spruce Grove

• Nova Cannabis at Willow Park, 252-10816 MacLeod Tr. SE, Calgary

• Nova Cannabis at Namao, 9611 167th Ave., Edmonton

• Nova Cannabis at Shoppers South, B8015 104th St., Edmonton

• Cannabis House, 6560 170th Ave., Edmonton

• 420 Premium Market, D290-9737 MacLeod Tr. SW, Calgary

• Small Town Buds, 102-6 Athabasca Ave., Devon

• Waldo's 420 Store, 946 16th Str. SW, Medicine Hat

• Numo Cannabis Corp., 117733 95th St., Edmonton

• Fire & Flower Cannabis Inc., 313-10451 99th Ave., Fort Saskatchewan

• Fire & Flower Cannabis Inc., 19 Bellerose Dr., St Albert

• Fire & Flower Cannabis Inc., 9610 165th Ave., Edmonton

• Alternative Greens, 12451 97th St., Edmonton

• Westside Weed, 914 South Railway St. SE, Medicine Hat