Cannabis 2.0 likely won’t come in time for Christmas after all.

Reps in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec all say they expect the first sales of edibles, extracts and topicals to come no sooner than January 2020.

And if anything does come before then it will be a “very limited supply.”

Dec. 16, 2019, is the earliest date that notified products in the new classes could be made available for sale to authorized distributors and sellers in provinces and territories.

For most, that means producers will send orders during the holiday rush to government facilities where they sit until private stores order them.

“We are issuing purchase orders December 16 so it’s too soon to say what products will be available to us and when,” Beverley Ware, a Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation communications advisor, said.

“Based on our conversations with licensed producers we expect to have a very limited supply arriving in late December with a gradual introduction of products to the market in the new year. Due to anticipated shortages we won’t be offering online ordering until January 6.”

The Ontario Cannabis Store won’t sell edibles, topicals, vapes and extracts until Jan. 6, 2020. Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press

Meanwhile a Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) spokesperson said its timeline of having cannabis ready for purchase by Jan. 6 “accommodates approval by Health Canada as well as shipment, ordering from retailers and delivery.”

“The factors that influence the timing of the roll-out of the products are: the lead time for Health Canada approval, shipment from licensed producers, orders from retailers and delivery to market,” Joanna Hui, an OCS communications manager, said.

Quebec and B.C. reps did not specify a specific date for when retail sales may begin and other provinces and territories did not respond for comment.

Mike Babins, co-owner of Evergreen Cannabis in Vancouver, said producers are anxiously waiting to get their hands on product.

“They’re (producers are) talking about express flying them in the moment they are ordered,” he told the Vancouver Sun.

“They could, very well, in theory, come right away, if everyone is willing to co-operate … really, there’s a billion possibilities.”

Mike Babins shows off a cannabis sample displayed in a sniff jar at the Evergreen Cannabis Society store in Kitsilano. Gerry Kahrmann / PNG

But Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) said selling product as early as Dec. 16 is “not possible.”

“AGLC didn’t expect it would be feasible to order product from LPs on Dec. 16, receive it and make available to retailers to order and ship it in less than a week,” she said.

“No province can begin to legally order product until Dec. 16. It will take a bit of time for LPs to ship the product out and then to get that product shipped out and into stores.”

Saskatchewan is one of the few provinces that may get to boast about the first Cannabis 2.0 sale.

While it did not comment on the likelihood of edibles and other products being sold before 2020, the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority pointed out how the province allows licensed retailers to buy cannabis directly from registered producers, as well as from SLGA-licenced private wholesalers.

“Unlike other provinces, SLGA does not have supply agreements with licensed producers,” David Morris, an SLGA spokesperson, said.

It’s unclear if edibles will sell in Canada before 2020. Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press

But the wait may be even longer than January, according to Eleanor Lynch, senior VP at Vancouver-based Kiaro.

“It’s not going to be a lot of products on the market in December,” she said during an October Retail Council of Canada conference as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

“I think people will see more in probably February and March.”