The AGCO and the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) have introduced a data platform to help reduce your regulatory burden by both simplifying your cannabis reporting requirements and improving its accuracy. All authorized retailers in Ontario are required to use an in-store POS system that is fully integrated with the POS Data Reporting Platform.
How It Works
The POS Data Reporting Platform automatically extracts, standardizes, and validates the data that you already house in your system. This is done via an Application Programming Interface (API) connection between your POS system and the POS Data Platform. The OCS processes the extracted data and shares it with the AGCO and notifies you of any errors.
It eliminates the need for monthly preparation and submission of reports and improves the accuracy of the data submitted to better fulfil your provincial and federally-mandated regulatory reporting requirements.
If they have been onboarded with OCS, your POS provider will set up your system to automatically pull your required provincial and federal regulatory reporting data directly from your in-store POS system. Once it is processed by the OCS, the data required for provincial and regulatory reporting will be available for federal regulatory reporting. The OCS populates and completes reports required by Statistics Canada and Health Canada.
Integration of your POS system with the POS Data Platform enables you to meet your provincial and federal regulatory reporting requirements.
A list of POS providers that are fully integrated with the POS Data Reporting Platform can be found here, For more information about the POS Data Reporting Platform email OntarioCannabisDataReporting@ocs.ca
Ongoing Data Quality
Once added to the platform, you may receive data reconciliation error notifications. A list of data reconciliation error messages is available from the OCS here.
It is important that you promptly address any error messages you receive to maintain data accuracy and compliance. If you have any questions about specific error messages, contact your POS Provider.
The AGCO validates incoming data to ensure retailers’ compliance with their regulatory obligations. If our validation efforts identify any issues, we may directly reach out to you for resolution.
Closing an authorized store
If you are a CROL holder permanently closing an authorized store, you must notify the AGCO of your intent to close. Additionally, you must ensure that your store’s closing inventory levels are reported as zero in the data provided to the AGCO before the store can be officially closed. For detailed regulatory and operational steps required prior to closing, please refer to the "Request to Cancel a Licence and/or Authorization" section of this guide.
Please refer to the Cannabis Seed-to-Sale Data Entry Guidelines for instructions on entering data into a POS system.