Even though cannabis edibles, extracts and topicals have been legal in Canada since Oct. 17, Thursday will be the first day British Columbians will be able to buy them.

The newly available products include edibles, such as baked goods and drinks; extracts, such as oils and vape liquid; and topicals, such as cannabis-infused creams or lotions, according to the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch (BCLDB).

Despite the sale of the new products being legalized two months ago, the items weren't available for sale due to Health Canada requiring a 60-day notice from licensed producers looking to sell them. 

The sale of edible cannabis products becomes legal Tuesday across Canada, but they won't be on P.E.I. store shelves immediately.

P.E.I. Cannabis will begin sending out purchase orders to suppliers of cannabis derivatives on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson at the Department of Finance. Products, including edible food items, beverages, topicals and extracts, should begin to appear on store shelves in coming weeks.

In some other provinces, rollout of the legal sale of cannabis derivatives has been delayed due to regulatory issues, and products are expected on shelves next month.

Government is also putting out new health and safety messages, including short videos on social media.

If you're hoping to buy a next-generation cannabis product — like infused beer or gummy bears — as a gift for the holiday season, you may be out of luck.

It will be legal to buy derivative cannabis products — often referred to in the industry as "cannabis 2.0" — on Tuesday, but three of Canada's largest provinces won't have a single one available until January.

That's because the long-awaited expansion of sales for cannabis derivatives have gone through a gauntlet of regulatory checkpoints and cumbersome logistics, dashing hopes of last-minute gift purchases with its late arrival.

Statistics Canada is reporting nearly $1 billion in non-medical cannabis sales across the country in the first year of legalization in its latest report.

The report, called The Retail Cannabis Market in Canada: A Portrait of the First Year, summarized sales over Canada’s first year of cannabis legalization. 

It shows the industry made $908 million total in online and retail sales in the first year, or $24 per capita.

Ontario led all provinces in sales with $217 million between Oct. 2018 and Sept. 2019, followed by Alberta with $196 million and Quebec with $195 million. No other province reached above $100 million in sales.

If you want pot edibles in Canada, you’re going to have to go a long way east.

Monday marks the first day Canadians can legally buy a range of new cannabis formats including vapes, edibles and beverages. Newfoundland and Labrador, on Canada’s easternmost edge, was one of the only provinces that appeared to have some of those products available for sale.

CannabisNL, the province’s government-owned wholesaler, had chocolate squares and gummies from Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. brands Kolab and Foray available for sale on Monday morning. Many other choices were listed as “coming soon.”

Most other provinces were days if not weeks away from offering the new products, according to representatives:

Picking up a last-minute gift of booze or deciding to top up one’s holiday merriment has just been made easier.

Liquor stores and cannabis shops have been given the green light to do business on Christmas Day, the provincial regulator of those products announced Monday.

“Lifting the restrictions to allow these liquor and cannabis licensees to stay open on December 25 is another opportunity to reduce red tape and support licensees in making business decisions that best support their operational needs,” says a statement from Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC).

Opening on that day will be optional for retailers, though an AGLC spokeswoman said it’s impossible to know how many will use the opportunity.

The holiday season is now in full swing. For some folks, this means spending tons of money on gifts to reassure their loved ones that they do, in fact, still love them, in spite of all of their shortcomings. There are others, however, that would just assume jam a sharp stick in their eye than endure anything festive this time of year. There are no menorahs or Christmas trees for these people, not on your life, as they have, through a series of unfortunate events along the way, become somewhat callous to all of the lights, carols and fun that other people seem to be having.

Kaileen Chisholm was preparing to start culinary studies at Edmonton’s Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) last year when her sister-in-law sent her a link to a cannabis event hosted by Travis Petersen, a former contestant on MasterChef Canada, a competitive cooking reality show.

Chisholm contacted Petersen and soon started working with the Vancouver-based chef whenever he held an event in Alberta. Earlier this month, she travelled to Vancouver to work alongside he and a handful of other chefs at two multi-course dinners that included dishes such as turkey medallion, stuffing and foie gras with cannabis-infused cranberry gravy.

Things are finally brightening for the Canadian cannabis industry, but don’t expect it to show up in companies’ results anytime soon.

This week marks the earliest that newly legal formats including vapes, edibles and beverages can hit store shelves, although very few products will be available until early 2020, according to companies and provincial wholesalers.

Even once products are available, several provinces are placing restrictions on what can be sold. Quebec and Newfoundland have both banned sales of cannabis vapes, while Nova Scotia has prohibited flavoured vaping products. Quebec has also banned most edibles.