Canada's impending legalization of marijuana is spurring demand for commercial real estate, particularly for retail shops in Alberta, where the government is selecting private operators to conduct over-the-counter sales, industry players said Tuesday.

Real estate consultancy JLL said its phone has been "ringing off the hook" as cannabis companies look to secure space to cultivate the plant and seek retail space to sell the final product.

Commercial real estate prices haven't "seen a major bump yet", but that is expected to change after legalization, research manager Gaurav Mathur said during a panel discussion at an industry conference in Toronto.

With the legalization of cannabis around the corner, Lethbridge City Council is encouraging residents to attend a community issues committee meeting later this month to learn what it’s going to mean for the community.

A panel of independent specialists will be on hand to provide information to City Council members and the public on various aspects of cannabis legalization including the legal framework, provincial regulations and local land-use planning.

Councillor Jeff Carlson says they hold CIC meetings fairly regularly on off Mondays, but when there’s something bubbling in the community that they think a lot of people might have an interest in they try to plan something special.

As Canada inches closer toward the cannabis legalization, Alberta post-secondary institutions are pondering how they should deal with use of the substance on campus.

Until two months ago, Bow Valley College students and faculty hoping for a quick smoke break could find refuge at outdoor patios and green spaces on campus.

The school had an anti-smoking policy, but decided it was time to shore it up after seeking advice from anti-tobacco groups like Action on Smoking and Health.

Olds area could see up to 1,000 jobs from 3 facilities.

Marijuana is already big business in Canada and some southern Alberta communities are lining up to fully take advantage of recreational cannabis legalization, which is just months away.

The Aurora Cannabis production facility is just a few kilometres down the road from Cremona, Alta. The village had a 2016 population of 444. This was the first facility to set up shop in the province after getting approval in February 2015 from Health Canada.

Penny Sterling, the quality assurance director at the facility, commutes about 40 minutes from nearby Olds, and she's one of about 120 current employees.

The small-scale operators banking on a share of Canada’s retail pot business will soon be replaced by a handful of big chains, panelists discussing cannabis legalization said Thursday.

“In five years the real players will move in, maybe Shoppers (or others) … who understand retail and stand to make a lot of money,” said Mitchell Osak, managing director of consultant Grant Thornton’s strategic advisory practice.

“It’s likely you will get a franchise-based system here as well.”

About three-quarters of Colorado’s roughly 450 marijuana stores are now controlled by five companies, although independents remain, said Osak, who has worked with 17 licensed Canadian pot producers.

Calgary university to offer 3 non-credit online courses this fall.

Those wanting to learn more about the budding marijuana industry in Canada can now do so in a university setting.

Mount Royal University will offer three, non-credit continuing education courses — at a cost of $1,500 each — this fall, covering the business side of cannabis.

"The idea was, we have a lot of course connected to business and professional education so this seemed like really, a natural fit," Brad Mahon, dean of the faculty of continuing education at Mount Royal University, told The Homestretch.

A local clinic is embracing a more personal, science-based approach when it comes to prescribing medical cannabis for qualified patients.

After its initial launch in January, the Clinic Network of Canada (CNC) hosted the official grand opening of a new medical cannabis resource centre and pain management clinic at Pure Clinics in Sherwood Park on April 12.

Mike Lukacs, a cannabis educator and client services representative with CNC, said the clinic’s approach represents a necessary shift from traditional models in existence today.

“If people look at cannabis from a medical standpoint, and they have a treatable condition, they don’t just want a prescription and then to be left to figure it out themselves,” he noted.

Corporate giants, like Anheuser-Busch, may enter cannabis trade if they decide a profit can be made, prof says.

The name change of Liquor Stores N.A., which owns the Liquor Depot chain, to Alcanna this week represents the company's intent to expand into the Canadian cannabis market alongside Aurora Cannabis, the second-largest cannabis grower in Canada.

"They're our business partner," James Burns, vice-chair and CEO of Alcanna, told CBC News. "It gives us one of the top, most incredible-leading, fastest-growing cannabis producers in the world."

Alcanna — a portmanteau of alcohol and cannabis — reflects the company's vision of having two separate divisions of alcohol and cannabis, since legislation will likely bar the sale of the two in the same building.

Consumers in recreational industry must do own research into medical cannabis remedies.

Albertans hoping to learn whether or not cannabis could help their aches and pains won't get any answers from employees at recreational retail cannabis stores.

Once cannabis is legalized, pot shop employees will not be allowed to give medical advice or guidance to consumers. If consumers ask which strain of cannabis might be best to manage arthritis pain, for example, employees must refer them to their doctors or other health-care practitioners.

The guidelines are part of the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission's SellSafe cannabis staff training, a mandatory program for anyone who plans to work in the recreational cannabis industry.

Those looking to set up a retail cannabis store in Red Deer County will first have to go through the municipal planning commission.

Council approved bylaw changes on Tuesday to help ensure Red Deer County is ready once marijuana becomes legal.

“This is all brand new to Red Deer County. It’s not legal yet in Canada, but we’re trying to be ready,” said Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood.

Cannabis retail operations in Red Deer County will be considered discretionary under the newly-passed regulations, therefore MPC approval is required. Wood says this means the public will get their say before an operator sets up shop.