Lots of interest provincially and locally for businesses hoping to become cannabis shops.

The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) says they received 1,502 applications with 36 of those coming from the Humboldt.

All of those applications will now go through an initial screening process, something that Gene Makowsky the minister responsible for SLGA says should eliminate the incomplete applications.

"For financial capacity and then for a tracking system showing what they had in mind there [as a plan to sell]," he said. "If you don't have that or fill out your forms correctly, that could disqualify you at that point.

"SLGA will look at any criminal convictions, any criminal activity. They will look at if you've ever been in fraud or civil litigation or legal trouble."

After passing through those hoops, the remaining applications will then be entered into a lottery, competing against other applications from the same community.

"There is an independent third party that will be part of the entire process to make sure it's done transparently and fairly," Makowsky stated. "They'll draw the appropriate number for the amount of permits available for each community and then it will be a random draw."  

Thirty-six applicants from Humboldt are vying for the one permits allotted to the community.

Makowsky said because there is so much uncertainty on how the cannabis retailers will do, the government isn't committing to adding more than the 51 permits.

"It's difficult to say what the market is going to be, we're going into this with not a lot of information," he said. "I think we took a cautious approach and a reasonable approach initially. I think there is a lot of interest but the resulting market once sales start is unknown."

The government intends to keep an eye on sales, and they say if necessary they will issue more permits in some centres and maybe issue permits in smaller communities too.