Health Canada tightens marijuana licensing protocol

Federal regulatory agency Health Canada on Wednesday issued changes to its cannabis licensing procedures to more closely align them with other regulated sectors.

Effective immediately, all new applicants for licenses to cultivate, process or sell marijuana for medical reasons must have a fully built site that meets all cannabis regulation requirements at the time of application.

For applications already in the queue, the agency said it will conduct a “high-level review” for issues or concerns but will not provide final approval until a site is completed.

According to Health Canada, more than 70% of applicants who successfully passed initial paper-based reviews of their applications over the past three years still have not provided evidence of compliant built-out facilities.

For more on the licensing changes, click here.