Cannabis micro-cultivation licenses continue to be the most popular in Canada

Half of 2022 has passed, and small-scale cannabis cultivation licenses continue to be the most popular type of license in Canada.

Initially, the canadian cannabis law regulated large-scale cannabis cultivation facilities. This initial draft established a standardized and straightforward authorization process, but the cost of the process prevented small businesses from entering the new legal cannabis market.

To address this issue, Health Canada has divided the licenses into different categories: standard cannabis licenses, micro-culture licenses, nursery licenses, and hemp cultivation. Micro-cultivation licenses allow authorized producers to grow up to 200 square meters of cannabis, with an annual maximum of 600 kg of dried cannabis for processing license holders.

Micro-farming licenses in Canada also take into account the fact that small businesses operate on tight budgets and with fewer employees. Storage and monitoring requirements are reduced, and regulatory fees are lower.

Microgardening is gaining popularity

In line with the trend seen in 2021, micro-cultivation and processing licenses continue to be the most commonly issued license category in Canada, with 45 of the 97 licenses issued so far this year being micro-licenses.

Another 40 licenses issued this year were standard licenses (cultivation and/or processing), along with 10 medical-use-only sales licenses and 2 nursery licenses. One medical-use-only sales license (VMM) allows the holder to operate an online sales platform without ever possessing cannabis.

In 2021, 262 new licenses were granted; 130 of these were micro licenses (cultivation and/or standard), while 108 were standard cultivation and/or processing licenses, along with 11 licenses for medical sales only and 11 nursery licenses.

This represents a slight change from 2020, when there were 144 standard licenses, 132 micro licenses, 20 licenses for sales for medical purposes only, and 9 nursery licenses.

There are currently 309 micro-licenses in Canada, out of a total of 859 active licenses. Of these, 28 are for nurseries, 39 are for medical-use-only sales, and 483 are standard licenses.

Cannabis Licenses in Canada / StratCann