Registering to produce or possess cannabis for your own medical purposes
Learn how to access or possess cannabis for your own medical purposes and register with Health Canada as a registered person under the Cannabis Regulations.
On this page
- Meet with your health care practitioner
- Register to produce or possess cannabis for your own medical purposes
- Registration certificate
- Responsible adults
- Refusal and revocation
- Contact us
Meet with your health care practitioner
Meet with your health care practitioner to discuss whether you should use cannabis for your condition.
Your health care practitioner may issue you a medical document if they determine that a limited amount of cannabis is required for the condition for which you are receiving treatment.
Register to produce or possess cannabis for your own medical purposes
Complete and submit one of the registration application forms below with the original of your medical document to Health Canada if you either:
- want to produce a limited amount of cannabis for your own medical purposes
- want to designate a person to produce a limited amount of cannabis for your own medical purposes
- are authorized to use cannabis for medical purposes and want to obtain it from another legal source (such as an authorized provincial or territorial retail or online point of sale), and expect to possess more than 30 grams in public
Production for your own medical purposes
You must meet the requirements of the Cannabis Regulations to produce cannabis for your own medical purposes. The requirements state that you must:
- ordinarily live in Canada
- be 18 years of age or older
- attest that you have not been convicted of a cannabis related offence in the past 10 years
- not be registered more than once at any time
You must submit both:
- the original medical document from your health care practitioner,
- the completed registration application form for personal production, which includes a declaration consenting to the production of cannabis that is signed and dated by the person who owns the site where you intend to produce if both of the following apply:
- you do not own the site
- it is not your ordinary place of residence
Mail this package to:
Health Canada
Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Program
Address locator: 5002A
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0K9
If the application is not complete, Health Canada cannot process your application and will send it back to you.
Anyone authorized to produce cannabis for themselves may also be authorized as a designated person to produce for one other person.
Production by a person you have designated
If you want another person to produce cannabis for you, you may designate a person to do so.
The person you designate to produce cannabis for your medical purposes must meet certain requirements, including:
- ordinarily live in Canada,
- be 18 years of age or older
This person can be authorized to produce cannabis plants for no more than 2 registrations in total, which means that they could either:
- be authorized to produce cannabis for themselves and for you, if they are your designated person,
- be authorized to produce cannabis for 2 people, other than themselves, as their designated person
You must submit both:
- the original medical document from your health care practitioner
- the registration application form for designated production, which includes a declaration from the person you have designated to produce cannabis on your behalf
The person you have designated will need to provide, among other things:
- their personal information, including their:
- name
- address
- date of birth
- their signature and date on the declaration
- a document issued by a Canadian police force showing that, within the 10 years before the application, they have not:
- been convicted of an offence referred to in paragraph 311(2) of the Cannabis Regulations
- received a sentence referred to in paragraph 311(2)(d) of the Cannabis Regulations
As part of the registration form you will also need to provide a signed and dated declaration from the person who owns the site where the person you have designated intends to produce. The declaration should state the owner consents to the production. This is necessary for a site that:
- you do not own and is not your place of ordinary residence
- your designated person does not own and it is not their place of ordinary residence
Mail this package to:
Health Canada
Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Program
Address locator: 5002A
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0K9
If the application is not complete, Health Canada cannot process your application and will send it back to you.
Registering only to possess and not to produce
You may need to register with Health Canada in order to lawfully possess cannabis in public above the 30 grams limit allowed for non-medical purposes if you meet all of the following criteria:
- are authorized by your health care practitioner to use cannabis for medical purposes
- ordinarily live in Canada
- intend to access your supply of cannabis from a provincial or territorial authorized retail outlet or authorized online sales platform
- are not registered with a federally licensed seller or with Health Canada for personal or designated production
This type of registration does not allow you to produce your own cannabis for medical purposes, or designate someone to produce it for you. It acts as proof of your ability to possess in public up to a 30-day supply of dried cannabis, or its equivalent, up to a maximum of 150 grams, depending on the amount authorized by your health care practitioner. The public possession limit for cannabis for medical purposes is in addition to the possession limit of 30 grams for non-medical use.
If you want to apply for a registration for possession only, you must submit both:
- the original medical document from your health care practitioner
- the completed registration application form for possession only
Mail this package to:
Health Canada
Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Program
Address locator: 5002A
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0K9
If the application is not complete, Health Canada cannot process your application and will send it back to you.
Registration certificate
Health Canada will send you a registration certificate for personal or designated production of cannabis, or for possession only, if:
- your registration application:
- is complete
- meets the requirements of the regulations
- there are no grounds for refusal
This registration certificate is your proof that you are a registered person who can legally produce or possess a limited amount of cannabis for medical purposes. If you have a designated person and you are issued a registration certificate, Health Canada will mail this person their own confirmation document.
The registration certificate indicates the daily quantity of dried cannabis your health care practitioner authorized. It also indicates how many cannabis plants you can produce, based on the formulas found in section 325 of the Cannabis Regulations.
You or the person you have designated may only begin to produce cannabis once you have received your registration certificate from Health Canada.
Responsible adults
A responsible adult is a person over the age of 18 who is responsible for the registered person and is named on the registered person's registration certificate.
An applicant may seek to rely on a responsible adult because they are a child or elderly, or they have a serious and prolonged impairment in physical or mental functions, for example. The responsible adult can submit the application form and related documents on behalf of the applicant. Once a registration certificate is issued, a responsible adult may apply to renew, amend, or revoke the registration.
Applicants do not need to have a responsible adult.
The role of the responsible adult carries responsibilities, such as a willingness to:
- be responsible for the registered person's use of cannabis for medical purposes
- help administer the cannabis
- be responsible for the security of the cannabis,
- report theft or loss of cannabis to the police and to Health Canada
- ensure compliance with the registered person's public possession limit
A responsible adult is not authorized to produce cannabis for a registered person or help with production related tasks such as watering, trimming, or harvesting cannabis plants. A responsible adult is not authorized to sell cannabis.
When relying on a responsible adult, a person should consider whether the responsible adult is able to fulfill the responsibilities of the role that are outlined above such as helping with the administration of cannabis and assuming responsibility for the security of cannabis.
Responsible adults should be able to fulfill their responsibilities. In some cases, a person may be unable to fulfill all the responsibilities of a responsible adult, such as helping with the administration or security of the cannabis. Examples include one person serving as the responsible adult for more than one registered person (for example, a caretaker of 2 elderly people), or where there is a large geographic distance between the responsible adult and their registered person. In these cases, registered persons should consider whether another person could serve as their responsible adult. Cases where a responsible adult is unable to fulfill their responsibilities may be considered a risk to public health or public safety.
Examples
The following are some examples where a registered person may seek to rely on a responsible adult:
- A child has a responsible adult who is their parent or legal guardian.
- A person with a disability or an elderly person has a responsible adult who is their caretaker or someone who provides them with assistance.
There may be other situations where a registered person may seek to rely on a responsible adult.
Refusal and revocation
Health Canada may refuse to issue or may revoke a registration for personal or designated production for public health or public safety reasons, pursuant to subsections 317(2) or 318(3) of the Cannabis Regulations including risk related to responsible adults. Registrations may also be refused or revoked for other reasons. Health Canada has published a list of some of the factors that may be considered when refusing or revoking a registration for public health or public safety reasons.
When making decisions under subsection 317(2) and 318(3), Health Canada may consider all factors that are relevant to assessing the risk to public health or public safety, including the risk of cannabis being diverted to an illicit market. This may include factors such as whether an applicant or a responsible adult has a history of non-compliance with the Cannabis Act or its regulations, or has a history of criminal activity relevant to public health or public safety.
Health Canada may follow up with any applicant, registered person or responsible adult to obtain more information about their application or registration. Compliance measures may be taken if necessary.
Contact Us
For questions related to a specific application or registration, contact Health Canada directly at 1-866-337-7705 or by email to cannabis@hc-sc.gc.ca. The email should include the application or registration file number, the applicant or registered person's name and the subject of the correspondence.
For more information
- Registration form for personal production
- Registration form for designated production
- Registration form for possession only
- Growing cannabis at home safely
- Information for people registered or designated to produce cannabis for medical purposes
- Calculator for the production of a limited amount of cannabis
Disclaimer
You need to read this page along with the Cannabis Act and the Cannabis Regulations. If there are differences between this page and the legislation, the legislation is correct.