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Information for new cannabis licence holders: Cultivation, processing or sale for medical purposes licences

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Who is this for

Use the information in this page to guide you as a new cannabis licence holder. It includes information to get you started on your daily activities, such as:

This content only applies to the following cannabis licences:

Disclaimer

You need to read these pages along with the Cannabis Act and the Cannabis Regulations. If there are differences between these pages and the Cannabis Act and the Cannabis Regulations, the Act and the Regulations are correct. If there are differences between the Cannabis Tracking and Licensing System (CTLS) and these pages, these pages are correct.

Information on your licence

This section describes the information on your licence, including:

Figure 1 shows an example of a cannabis licence document. This example is for illustration purposes only and may not be an exact representation of your specific cannabis licence.

Figure 1: Example of a cannabis licence document

text description below

Figure 1: Text Description

The cannabis licence document includes texts presented in both Canadian official languages (English and French). This document includes the following information presented from top to bottom:

  • Licence number
  • Licence
  • This licence is issued in accordance with the Cannabis Act and Cannabis Regulations
  • Licence Holder
  • Licensed Site
  • The above-mentioned person is authorized to conduct, at the site specified on this licence, the activities listed below for the following licence class and subclasses
  • Activities within a table
  • Conditions within a table
  • Indoor Area(s)
  • The possession of cannabis and the other activities mentioned above are authorized in the following building(s):
  • Outdoor Area(s)
  • The cultivation, propagation and harvesting of cannabis are authorized in the following outdoor area(s):
  • Effective date of the licence:
  • Expiry date of the licence:

Licence number

Your licence number is specific to your licensed site. You should include this number in all of your written communication with Health Canada, for example in the email's subject line.

Licence holder

The licence holder is the name of the individual or organization that owns the licence. All the official documents about your cannabis licence will use this name.

Licensed site

The licensed site is your site address, as submitted in the CTLS. This is the only location where you can do your authorized cannabis activities.

Information for each type of licence

If you have more than 1 licence at your site, you'll see this section repeated for each type of licence. This document will only include information on licence for:

Other types of cannabis or industrial hemp licences won't appear on this document. For more information about your licence and other licence types, refer to the Types of cannabis and industrial hemp licences.

Licence type

Your type of licence will specify your authorized activities at the licensed site. For example, a cultivation licence allows you to grow cannabis indoors and outdoors by cultivation, propagating and harvesting. A processing licence allows you to process harvested cannabis and industrial hemp. This licence doesn't allow you to grow cannabis.

Activities

The activities list what you're allowed to do according to your type of licence. Each type of licence will have its own authorized activities such as growing (cultivating, propagating and harvesting), producing or selling cannabis.

Conditions

Conditions may be placed on your licence which are specific to each licence class and sub-class and to the licence holder. These conditions may restrict the activities that you are authorized to conduct at your site. Conditions may include:

Important: Make sure you understand the licence conditions applied on your licence. Conditions may restrict the authorized activities at your site, for example limiting the type of cannabis you can sell.

Authorized areas

The authorized areas list where you can conduct authorized cannabis activities. Authorized buildings will be listed for indoor areas and authorized growing areas will be listed for outdoor areas.

Effective date

The effective date listed on your licence is the first day you can start your authorized cannabis activities. Health Canada will update the effective date on your licence anytime changes are made to your licence, for example, when your authorized activities change. Licences can be issued and renewed for a maximum validity period of 5 years.

Expiry date

The expiry date is when you'll no longer be authorized to conduct cannabis activities with this current licence. To continue beyond the expiration date, you need to renew your licence before its expiry date. You should start the renewal process no less than 3 months before your licence expires.

Before you start producing cannabis

After receiving your cannabis licence from Health Canada, it's important to be aware of and understand information relating to cannabis and its production. This will help with your daily cannabis operation.

This section includes:

Depending on your licence type, you may need to have a cannabis licence from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) before you can start producing cannabis. For general questions, email cannabis@cra-arc.gc.ca.

Legislation

Familiarize yourself with the legislation listed below to see how they apply to your licences.

These laws could also apply to you:

Receiving cannabis at your site

Any cannabis you bring into your site must meet the requirements of the Cannabis Act and the Cannabis Regulations. This includes cannabis bought from an industrial hemp licence holder.

As a holder of a licence that authorizes possession, you can only obtain cannabis:

Producing cannabis

You need to understand the good production practices requirements for your licence type and for the activities you'll be conducting at your site.

Testing your cannabis

You'll need to complete these types of testing to your cannabis, including industrial hemp, as applicable:

  1. pesticide testing
  2. contaminant testing
  3. phytocannabinoid testing
  4. dissolution and disintegration testing

For detailed information on testing for pesticide active ingredients and the timing of the testing including other requirements such as reporting and record keeping, refer to:

You'll need to do all tests, as applicable, if you're selling cannabis that's packaged and labelled for retail and export outside of Canada. The testing requirements and when to test your cannabis are outlined in Good production practices guide for cannabis.

Cannabis composition and limits

There are other requirements, such as composition, maximum quantities and prohibited ingredients, specific to the type of cannabis you produce for the intended market. Cannabis composition, specification and details on the limits of quantities of various cannabis types are outlined in the Guide on composition requirements for cannabis products.

Packaging and labelling

Each type of cannabis has its own packaging and labelling requirements. These requirements aim to:

For more information on these requirements and how to meet them, refer to the Packaging and labelling guide for cannabis products.

Record keeping and retention

You need to keep all records as required by the regulations. The retention period varies depending on the record type.

Retention of documents and information in good production practices guide provides a summary of record keeping requirements on producing cannabis.

Voluntary recalls

A recall is any action you take to correct or remove cannabis from sale or distribution and to notify your customers and the public of a problem or potential problem with the cannabis. For more information on what you need to send when you recall a product, refer to the Cannabis voluntary recall guide.

You also need to complete a recall simulation (or a mock recall) at least once per year based on your site's recall procedures.

Promotions prohibitions

There're a number of prohibitions as well as various exemptions on the promotion of:

Promotion includes advertising by any means. This includes:

For more information on promotion prohibition, refer to:

Cannabis fees

There are fees that apply to you, such as:

Application or transactional fees are updated annually and are posted online.

For information on fees and how to calculate your cannabis revenue, refer to the Cannabis fees order guide.

Reporting

You have to send various reports to Health Canada by email or through the Cannabis Tracking and Licensing System (CTLS), such as:

Participating in an inspection

Once you receive your licence, Health Canada may conduct inspections to make sure that you're meeting the requirements of the Cannabis Act and the Cannabis Regulations. During an inspection, a Health Canada inspector may enter:

Inspections can be unannounced or scheduled in advance. They may be conducted onsite or virtually through video communications.

The length of time of the inspection for your site and the issuance of your inspection report will depend on many factors, including the complexity of your activities, the size of your operation and your cooperation.

The Compliance and enforcement policy for the Cannabis Act describes Health Canada's compliance and enforcement approach. A Guide to Health Canada inspections can help you prepare for a Health Canada inspection. Refer to What to expect on an inspection for the general steps of an inspection.

Making changes to your licence

If you want to make changes to your licence, such as changing your site personnel or site plan, changing the activities at your site or to renew your licence, you'll have to submit a change request or to apply for licence renewal to Health Canada. Your responsible person needs to send change requests and information in the Cannabis Tracking and Licensing System (CTLS).

Refer to Manage your cannabis licence for the steps on how to submit these changes.

Change of ownership

Cannabis licences are specific to an individual or organization at a specified site. The licences aren't transferable. Health Canada will review and assess the proposed business arrangement on a case-by-case basis. A new licence application may be needed.

If you're planning a business transaction involving your cannabis business, for example selling an asset or shares that will result in a change of ownership, contact Health Canada for instructions at licensing-cannabis-licences@hc-sc.gc.ca.

Contact us

To contact Health Canada, your email subject line should include the:

Refer to the following contacts for questions related to:

For general questions, email cannabis@hc-sc.gc.ca or contact Health Canada by phone at 1-866-337-7705.

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