Cannabis Retail Loss Prevention in New Brunswick: The Cage2 Baseline

Cannabis NB stores and private lounges report shrink well above general retail. Why the industry's Cage2 baseline outperforms uniform guarding — and how we implement it.

Cannabis retail shrink in New Brunswick sits between 2.3% and 4.1% of gross sales — nearly twice the general retail average. The reasons are structural. High-value inventory in small units, cash-heavy or e-transfer transactions that leave audit gaps, a customer base that includes both the medically vulnerable and the recreationally curious, and a regulator (Cannabis NB and the private licensing framework post-2024) that demands 24/7 recorded coverage.

The Cage2 baseline is a four-part loss-prevention framework we have deployed across nine NB cannabis retailers. Cage2 stands for Camera, Cabinet, Cashier, Concierge. The Camera layer requires 5MP-plus IP cameras with 30-day retention, motion-triggered analytics, and mandatory two-position tills. The Cabinet layer requires all inventory beyond 24 hours of sales velocity to be stored in a bolted-down TL-15 safe with a dual-custody protocol. The Cashier layer requires POS integration with sales-per-hour flagging, POS exception-reporting review at week's end, and cash-drawer counts at every shift break. The Concierge layer is our contribution — a plainclothes floor officer, trained on the six elements of theft, present during peak hours and on the last hour before close.

In three retailers where we implemented full Cage2, shrink dropped from 3.6% to 0.9% in the first quarter and stabilized at 1.1% by month twelve. In two other retailers where the client declined the concierge layer, shrink dropped to 2.4% — measurable, but half the improvement.

Cannabis LP is a specialty. The apprehension bar is legally higher (all six elements of theft must be personally witnessed), the demographic is more litigious, and the political optics matter for the retailer. We staff cannabis contracts with LP officers who hold a minimum of five years floor experience and a documented history of court-ready evidence packages. This is not entry-level work.