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Cannabis odours and odour control

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Cannabis and hemp production (cultivation of plants and processing the plant material into a product for consumption) can sometimes release odours. Similar to other industries that release odours, these odours may bother those who live or work close to cannabis production areas. To reduce the impact of odours, Health Canada has odour control requirements for the indoor commercial production of cannabis.

This page is about cannabis odours, odour control technologies, and Health Canada’s role in regulating cannabis odours in commercial production sites. 

Odorous cannabis molecules

A cannabis plant releases many odour-causing molecules, as it grows from a young plant to a mature plant ready for harvest. The main odour-causing molecules in cannabis are called terpenes.

Depending on the combination and amounts of terpenes released, the odour of cannabis plants is sometimes described as:

Other plants and everyday food items also have many of the same terpenes as cannabis. For example, the terpene limonene is found in cannabis and citrus fruits like oranges and lemons. It’s what causes a fruity or citrus smell.  

Effects of cannabis odours

Many substances that can be smelled outside aren’t present at high enough levels to cause long-term health effects, and the terpenes that cause cannabis related odours of aren’t known to be directly harmful to human health.  However, having contact with any unpleasant odours can bother some people, and influence their quality of life.

Limitations on cannabis production zoning, location and nuisances, such as odour, are generally regulated by the local municipality or government, or by provincial and territorial authorities. Health Canada only regulates odour for indoor commercial production of cannabis.

Sources of cannabis odours

Different types of cannabis production within your community can cause cannabis odours, including:

The cannabis odours can come from more than one cannabis site. This makes it difficult to determine the exact source when there are frequent concerns in a community. Sometimes, a facility is taking steps to control odours, but there may be another one nearby that isn’t.

Commercial production

Commercial production of cannabis can happen indoors or outdoors, but only with a licence from Health Canada.

Indoor cultivation can be anywhere, including urban or agricultural settings. Indoor production of cannabis can take place all year because of the controlled climate in structures such as greenhouses or warehouses. Only indoor commercial licence holders are subject to odour control requirements under the Cannabis Regulations.

Odours coming from outdoor production typically happen during the short growing season when the plants flower. There are no odour control requirements for outdoor commercial production at the federal level.

Commercial producers of cannabis, for both indoor and outdoor production, are subject to the rules of their local municipality or government, or provincial and territorial authority, similar to any other businesses regulated at the local level.

Personal or designated production for medical purposes

Cannabis odours can be released when individuals produce a limited amount of cannabis for their own cannabis for medical purposes, or designate someone to produce it for them. These individuals are required to register with Health Canada and the number of plants they are permitted to grow is tied to the daily amount authorized by their health care practitioner.

This type of production can happen indoors or outdoors. There are no odour control requirements for personal production for medical purposes at the federal level. However, individuals registered for personal production are subject to the rules of their local municipality or government, or provincial and territorial authority.

Under the Privacy Act, Health Canada isn’t allowed to release the personal information of those who are registered to produce cannabis for their own medical purposes, including their names and addresses. Health Canada is only able to release personal information to law enforcement during an investigation and in a manner specified by the Cannabis Regulations.

Personal production for non-medical purposes

There are no odour control requirements at the federal level for individuals who grow cannabis for non-medical purposes (up to 4 plants per household).  However, individuals are subject to the rules of their local municipality or government, or provincial and territorial authority.

Industrial Hemp production

Industrial hemp production can occur indoors and outdoors, and often takes place in rural areas. Odours coming from outdoor hemp production typically happen during the short growing season of 3-4 months in the summer when the plants mature and flower.

Although industrial hemp can produce odours, there are no odour control requirements for indoor or outdoor commercial production at the federal level.

Industrial hemp producers are subject to the rules of their local municipality or government, or provincial and territorial authority, similar to any other businesses regulated at the local level.

Illegal versus legal production

Legal production of cannabis must follow all relevant rules under the Cannabis Act and its regulations, and in addition is subject to provincial, territorial, and local laws and bylaws.

As noted earlier, there are only a few types of legal production of cannabis:

Any other type of production is illegal, for example, non-medical cultivation of more than 4 plants, or commercial production without a Health Canada licence.

You should immediately contact your local law enforcement if you suspect any kind of illegal cannabis production. Health Canada will work with law enforcement to verify if these sites are legal.

Role of provincial, territorial and local governments

All levels of government, industry and stakeholders work together to regulate cannabis in Canada. Health Canada encourages provinces, territories and local governments to use their tools at their disposal to ensure cannabis production meet all requirements, including:

Various local governments have also put in place laws and bylaws for cannabis odours. Contact your local government to understand their requirements.

Sometimes a local government might issue a notice of violation to a legal cannabis production site because it doesn’t comply with its laws or bylaws.

For more information related to the role of local governments as it relates to cannabis, please refer to the Municipal guide to cannabis legalization developed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Federal Requirements for odour filtration

Indoor commercial production

Currently, Health Canada only has odour control requirements for indoor commercial production. There are no odour control requirements for outdoor production at the federal level.

Licence holders must filter the air that comes from a building where cannabis production takes place, to limit cannabis odours from getting outdoors. Before obtaining a commercial licence for indoor production of cannabis, applicants need to demonstrate that they have an adequate air filtration system. We expect licence holders to make sure their odour filtration systems work at all times. For example, they can achieve this by:

During inspections, Health Canada checks that the licence holder has taken the steps to meet the odour control requirements.

Even with an air filtration system, there may still be cannabis odours from indoor production. However, air filtration systems help limit the odour intensity and how often they’re noticed. 

Other types of cannabis production

Other types of legal cannabis production, such as personal or designated production for medical purposes, have no federal odour control requirements under the Cannabis Act and its regulations. However, anyone who is growing or producing cannabis needs to be aware of and comply with provincial, territorial and local laws and bylaws that apply to them. Local governments can take enforcement actions against a cannabis producer if they don’t follow their local laws or bylaws.

Using filtration systems for cannabis odours

There are several filtration systems used by the cannabis industry to prevent the escape of odours.

Health Canada doesn’t restrict the use of any filtration system, but the applicant needs to demonstrate that it is:

Here are some examples of available filtration systems:

Health Canada’s Good production practices guide for cannabis  contains the requirements for filtration and ventilation systems (section 5.1.5.1). Some applicants and licence holders hire specialists (such as HVAC technicians) to help them comply with federal and local odour control requirements. 

Complaints about cannabis odours

Odours from any cannabis production

If you want to file a complaint about cannabis odour released from any type of production site, contact your local government. They may have laws or bylaws in place, or may work with law enforcement to identify if it’s an illegal production site.

Odours from commercial licence holders

Although a commercial licence holder may be producing cannabis in your community, other sources of production may be responsible for the odours.

If you think cannabis odours are coming from a commercial licence holder in your neighbourhood that is engaged in indoor production, we encourage you to first contact the licence holder directly if you can. This allows them to investigate the problem quickly and correct any errors in control measures.

You can also make a report directly to Health Canada using its Cannabis Reporting Form. Please provide as much information as possible about the site address and the odour incident event (such as the time and day that you noticed the odours, the distance away from location, and how often odours are present) to assist Health Canada in its assessment.

Enforcing odour control requirements

Health Canada promotes, monitors, and verifies compliance with the Cannabis Regulations, including odour control. When applying for a commercial cannabis licence, applicants need to provide a plan of their indoor air filtration systems in production and storage areas.

When Health Canada receives a complaint about cannabis odours, the Department may verify compliance by checking that a licence holder’s air filtration system works and is being maintained. If there are issues, Health Canada will interact with the implicated parties to resolve them. Even with an air filtration system, there may still be cannabis odours from indoor production. However, air filtration systems help limit the odour intensity and how often they’re noticed. 

Health Canada inspects commercially licenced sites on a regular basis. During an inspection for odour control, inspectors may:

If Health Canada finds problems with the air filtration system, the licence holder needs to develop a plan to address any issues. Health Canada may follow up with another inspection to check that the licence holder has put the plan in action.

Health Canada may apply other enforcement measures if it finds that the licence holder isn’t correcting their system and resolving the odour issue. This depends on:

For more information, please refer to Health Canada’s Compliance and enforcement policy for the Cannabis Act. 

Contact us

Should you require additional general information, please refer to the following list of contacts for cannabis related questions and concerns. This also includes a link to Health Canada’s Cannabis Reporting Form.

Any additional questions or concerns can also be emailed to cannabis@canada.ca, or you can call the Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch call center at 1-866-337-7705.

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