The online government auction for Saskatchewan liquor store permits ended with $45 million in bids, with 35 permits sold as the government prepares to close its remaining stores within two weeks.

The auctions for the permits began on Feb. 6 and closed on Feb. 24, and were conducted online through McDougall Auctions.

“There was a lot of interest leading up to the auction. We saw that continue on once we started. I think we had over 5,600 bids made on the 35 different auctions,” said SLGA spokesperson David Morris.

The total revenue from the auction amounted to $45,077,800, with bids ranging from $450,000 to $3,270,000.

The average permit sold for $1.2 million, which does not include buildings or inventory. The top bids were $3.2 million for the rights to open a liquor store in La Ronge, followed by $1.7 million for Fort QuAppelle.

Licenses in the $1.6 million range sold in Saskatoon, Meadow Lake and Prince Albert. Regina permits went for about $1.5 million.

“SLGA owns 19 of the 34 stores so those buildings will be disposed of through the government asset disposal process which will be you know considering if there is any other government interest in the building and if not, the buildings will be sold through commercial realtors,” said Morris.

We are pleased to see these auctions come to a successful conclusion, Lori Carr, minister responsible for SLGA, said in the release. The incredible amount of interest means that we will have additional revenue to put toward the high-quality public services we all enjoy.

The winning bidders will start the application process for the retail store permits, and will have 18 months to obtain the permit and open their business.

Twenty-seven of SLGA’s liquor stores have already closed, with the final seven locations set to close on March 11.

The average SLGA store is expected to earn about $13,000 in their final year of operation. The workers’ union accuses the government of not being honest in its projections. It asked, “If the stores were losing money, how could the auction permits alone bring $45 million?

The identity of the successful bidders will be made known once their official permit applications are filed and approved. Liquor store employee groups were invited to take part in the auction but it is not known if any succeeded in winning a permit.

The provincial government announced it was exiting the retail liquor market with plans to sell its remaining SLGA stores in Saskatchewan during its throne speech on Oct. 26, 2022.

The first store to close was the SLGA’s Dewdney Avenue location in Regina on Jan. 25.

In January, the provincial government struck a severance deal with hundreds of SLGA employees, who will be losing their jobs as a result of the sale.