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Manage your cannabis cultivation, processing or sale for medical purposes licence: Overview

Changes you can do to your cannabis cultivation, processing and sale for medical purposes licence and general process.

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Who this is for

The information on these pages is for anyone who wants to make changes to their existing Health Canada licences for:

These pages don't apply to all types of cannabis licences. For information about:

Who can submit changes to the licence

Important: Only the active responsible person can submit licence change requests in the Cannabis Tracking and Licensing System (CTLS). You can switch this status to the alternate responsible person when the responsible person is away.

If the active responsible person has left the company, email licensing-cannabis-licences@hc-sc.gc.ca.

We'll review the information and change the active responsible person in the CTLS.

Foreword and disclaimer

Foreword

Under the Cannabis Act (the Act), a licence holder must file a change in the way set by the Minister of Health, and include all information required.

These pages outline:

We may require more information to process your change request. If you don't submit the information requested, the Minister may refuse to consider it.

Disclaimer

Read these pages along with the Act and the Cannabis Regulations (the Regulations). If there are differences between these pages and the legislation, the legislation is correct. If there are differences between the Cannabis Tracking and Licensing System (CTLS) and these pages, these pages are correct.

The CTLS is a secure web portal and a single point of access for licence change request submissions. You can access the CTLS directly at Health Canada's Secure Web Portal.

Indigenous affiliated licence holders

If you're an Indigenous affiliated licence holder, the Indigenous Navigator Service can guide you through managing your licence.

For questions about managing your licence as an Indigenous affiliated licence holder, email navigator-navigateur@hc-sc.gc.ca.

Indigenous affiliated licence holders can include the Indigenous Navigator Service when contacting Health Canada by email.

Types of licence change requests and other submissions

Some changes to your licence or licensed site require either:

Requires an approval

Changes requiring an approval appear in section 20, section 32 and subsection 33(1) of the Regulations.

Other submissions that require an approval include:

Requires notification

Changes requiring notification appear in subsection 34(1) and subsection 36(1) of the Regulations.

Process for licence change requests

You can only have 1 request of the same type active in the CTLS. You can either combine them or submit the second change request after the first is completed.

You can submit multiple changes of the same type within a single request.

You can submit different types of requests at the same time.

Step 1: Prepare information

The submission requirements for licence change requests vary depending on the specific changes you wish to make.

Refer to the section on the specific change request for the information and documents you need to prepare.

Document format

All documents should be in PDF format.

We recommend using a document naming convention for all the information you submit. We can process your change request more efficiently when you follow this document naming convention. It generally follows this layout: MainCategory_CHG-#_YYYY-MM-DD.PDF.

Examples:

If your document will be added to your corporate profile, add the company name at the beginning of the document name.

Step 2: Create a change request in the CTLS

Important: In some cases, you may need to submit your change request by email. Refer to the section on the specific change request for instructions.

To create a change request in the CTLS:

  1. Under "Licensing", select "Licences" in the left-hand navigation bar.
  2. Beside the licence you would like to manage, select "Manage" (blue gear icon) in the "Actions" column.
  3. Click "Create licence change" and select the appropriate type of "Licence change".
    • Click on "New associated individuals" to add:
      • reporter
      • responsible for finance
      • person with consent to communicate
      • individual requiring a security clearance

Access your draft licence change on your "Licence" page. You can modify it at any time before submitting it.

Once you've submitted it, you can't modify your request. You'll have to withdraw it and submit a new request.

Step 3: Submit information and documents

Notification in the CTLS

If your change request only requires notification, this is the last step in the process. Once you've sent all the information, the change will automatically come into effect and your licence will be updated.

Approvals in the CTLS

Follow the prompts to add information and attach documents to the licence change request, as required. Requirements vary depending on the specific type of changes you wish to make.

Once you've added all the required information, Press "Submit" at the bottom of the page. You can see what change requests you have submitted and their status in the "Submitted licence changes" section.

Health Canada doesn't partially approve change requests. Depending on your needs, you may wish to prioritize a specific request rather than combining multiple requests. You won't be able to submit any other change request of the same type until Health Canada has approved the one you've already submitted.

By email

For certain changes, you'll submit all the information by email. Follow the instructions for the change request you wish to submit and include the correct subject line.

Large files

In some cases, your files may be too large to submit in the CTLS. To submit them, you can use either use:

Preferred method: Electronic file transfer (LiquidFiles)

This is our preferred method. After you've submitted your licence change request in the CTLS, upload your supporting documents using the LiquidFiles link previously provided to you.

Compress or zip all files into a single folder and use the naming convention "LIC-# Document submission for CHG-#".

If you require a new link or have difficulties with the link, email CSCB.filetransfer-partagedefichiers.DGSCC@hc-sc.gc.ca. Use the subject line "File transfer question for LIC-# Document submission for CHG-# ".

USB device

After you've submitted your licence change request in the CTLS, you'll need to send USB devices by mail. We won't return the USB device.

  1. Upload the documentation onto a USB device.
  2. Physically identify your USB device with your licence number (LIC-#) and change request number (CHG-#). If not, this could delay the review process or we could refuse to consider your request.
  3. Send the USB device containing your documentation to:
    Licensing and Medical Access Directorate
    Health Canada
    Address Locator 5002A
    Ottawa, ON K1G 0Z3
  4. If you have a tracking number, email it to licensing-cannabis-licences@hc-sc.gc.ca. Use the subject line "Documentation for LIC-# for CHG-#"

We won't accept CD-ROMs or any other cloud storage hosting services.

Health Canada needs to receive all your documents within 10 business days (2 weeks) of you submitting the change request in the CTLS. If not, we'll consider your request incomplete due to missing information, which may cause us to refuse to consider your application.

Step 4: Health Canada screens and reviews your change request

Screening

  1. The officer assigned to your request will:
    • verify if we received documents submitted by LiquidFiles or USB device
    • screen your information for completeness, legibility and ability to be processed
  2. If we need more information, we'll send an email containing what you need to submit to continue the screening process.
    • If you submit a sufficient response, your licence change request will pass screening. We'll send you an email and move your request to the review stage.
    • If you don't submit a sufficient answer, or if the screening requirements aren't met, Health Canada may refuse to consider your licence change request.

We have service standards to screen your request based on the type of change request. The screening process begins after we receive additional documents, if needed. Once screened, your request will go through the review stage.

Review

The officer assigned to your request will start the detailed review of your information. The change request is now in active review.

We have service standards to review your request based on the type of change request. The service standard doesn't include the time spent waiting for you to respond to our information requests.

Step 5: Respond to requests for more information

If your submission is unclear or doesn't meet the requirements, we may ask you to submit more information. These requests will be sent to the responsible person at the email address entered in the CTLS. You generally need to respond within 10 business days.

The CTLS status for your licence change request will change to "Pending information" during this time.

When responding to a request for more information:

Unless requested, don't resubmit a revised version of the original information you've submitted. Incomplete answers may lead to a delay in processing or a refusal to consider your application.

Step 6: Health Canada makes a final decision

Once we've reviewed all the information, we'll make a final decision. If we approve the change request, the responsible person will get an email with the electronic versions of the approval letter and your licence document, if applicable. If not, your responsible person will receive a notice of intent to refuse.

Notice of intent to refuse

We may refuse to consider a change request if you don't provide the information we've requested, according to subsection 62(6) of the Act.

We may also refuse to issue, amend, or renew your licence for the reasons in subsection 62(7) of the Act and section 29 of the Regulations.

In these cases, we'll send a notice of intent to refuse. The notice will identify the missing information, and give you a timeframe to respond, after which we'll make a final decision.

If we refuse your change request, we'll send you a notice of final refusal and close your change request. The notice will give the reasons for the decision.

If we refuse your change request because a security clearance was refused, your responsible person will receive a notification of the decision.

If you want to submit a new change request, we'll process it. However, you'll have to re-submit all the required information. What you've submitted before won't be transferred to your new change request. Health Canada doesn't return information and data submitted.

Step 7: Send notices to local authorities

Once your change request is approved, you may need to give written notice to your local authorities within 30 days after the:

Local authorities include:

Mayor, chief of police, chief of the fire department are examples of senior officials.

You may use the Notices to local authorities template. The notice needs to contain:

Organizational security plan

When you make a change that impacts your organizational security plan (for example, updates to people in the organizational chart), you need to update your plan within 5 days of making the change and email Health Canada.

Cannabis organizational security plan

Withdraw a licence change request

You can withdraw your licence change request at any time.

Important: If you withdraw a licence change request, all the information you submitted before won't be transferred to another licence change request. Health Canada doesn't return information and data submitted.

To withdraw a change request in the CTLS:

  1. Under "Licensing", select "Licences" in the left-hand navigation bar.
  2. Beside the licence you would like to manage, select "Manage" (blue gear icon) in the "Actions" column.
  3. Find the change you want to withdraw in the "Submitted licence changes".
  4. In the "Actions" column, select "Delete" (red trash can).
  5. Click "Confirm".
  6. Verify in the "Submitted licence changes" section that the change request is withdrawn.

Email licensing-cannabis-licences@hc-sc.gc.ca that you have withdrawn your licence change request. Use the subject line "Withdrawal of CHG-#".

Contact us

For questions related to a specific licence change request, email licensing-cannabis-licences@hc-sc.gc.ca. Use the subject line "Questions about CHG-#". Include your licence number (LIC-#) in the email.

For questions related to the CTLS, email ctls-sscdl@hc-sc.gc.ca.

For general questions, email cannabis@hc-sc.gc.ca or call 1-866-337-7705 (toll free).

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