Marijuana Business Magazine - May-June 2018

C anada’s federally regulated medical marijuana industry has been in a perpet- ual boom since the country elected a cannabis-friendly prime minister in 2015. Since then, the number of registered MMJ patients and licensed producers has more than tripled to 270,000 and 97, respectively, as of March. Now the country is poised to become the first Group of Seven nation to legalize recreational marijuana. With an expected recreational market worth $5.5 billion (CA$7 billion), Canada’s domestic market would be the second largest in the world, behind California. Inbound international cultivation opportunities could come in the form of partnerships and suppliers to the current licensed producers and the hundreds of applicants awaiting government approval. U.S. businesses with experience selling, branding or producing recreational can- nabis products – such as vape oils and infused products – could find room to grow in Canada or partner with Canadian businesses that have little experience in these areas (especially because edibles will be allowed by the summer of 2019). Canada is also a staging ground for international expansion. Leveraging Cana- dian capital and experience operating in a tightly controlled federal market, compa- nies have used Canada to expand into more than a dozen overseas medical markets. Here’s what you need to know: • The federal government issues large- scale cultivation licenses through Health Canada. • A set of proposed licenses, includ- ing “micro” cultivation licenses and licenses for small-scale production, will be introduced around the end of the summer. • Retail licenses for recreational cannabis sales are under the jurisdiction of provinces. Some provinces will allow privately owned retail outlets (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Newfoundland). But the rest (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island) will sell cannabis through government-owned stores. CANADA Industry: Medical and Recreational Marijuana Canada A GOING GL BAL May-June 2018 • Marijuana Business Magazine • 59