Cannabis Growers Hold a News Conference in Ottawa – February 15, 2023

On Parliament Hill, lobbyists and executives from the cannabis industry discuss the impact the recent layoffs and facility closures are having on producers across the country.

CPAC

Cannabis producers say 'crushing' taxes, fees have made legal industry 'uneconomic'

Producers want the Liberal government to eliminate a 2.3 per cent regulatory fee, which alcohol and tobacco industries don't have to pay.

National Post

'In peril': Cannabis producers say government policies snuffing them out

They say a recent wave of layoffs among cannabis producers, including the loss of 85 jobs announced this week at Calgary-based grower SNDL, are dismal omens for a sector stifled by government fees and levies that include a 37 per cent federal excise tax.

Calgary Herald

'Canadian cannabis is in peril': Industry leaders call on feds to help

Canadian cannabis business owners are calling for help from the federal government, saying high tax rates and strict rules have left their businesses struggling to survive.

CTV News

Tax and regulation combine to crush cannabis innovation and jobs

The illicit market is really the big winner when legal cannabis companies fall by the wayside with no pathway to profitability and no platform to offer innovative cannabis products to consumers.

Hill Times

Canadian cannabis producers’ unpaid tax bills soar as industry seeks reform

A growing number of Canadian cannabis businesses are failing to pay their federal excise taxes on time, a sign that companies are struggling and deferring their tax bill to meet more pressing needs – such as paying employees. Industry officials said the unpaid taxes – nearly 100 million Canadian dollars ($72.4 million) for the first half of the federal fiscal year – are “a canary in the coal mine” signalling a financial crisis for licensed cannabis producers, and they’re urging the federal government to reconsider how the excise tax is calculated.

MJBizDaily

Canada’s cannabis producers say they’re in crisis. Here’s what they’re asking the government to do

On the fourth anniversary of legalization, Canada’s cannabis producers are proclaiming a state of emergency and calling on the federal government for relief before, they say, many of their businesses are forced to go under.

Toronto Star

Cannabis industry in an “emergency crisis”, asks for moratorium on 2.3% annual regulatory fee

Cannabis industry calls on immediate regulatory reform: “This is an industry that cannot pay its own bills and cannot make ends meet.”

StratCANN

Canadian marijuana businesses pitch reform on legalization’s 4th anniversary

Marking the four-year anniversary of Canada ending marijuana prohibition, industry group Cannabis Council of Canada on Monday gathered business industry representatives to bring attention to their call for “urgent action to protect the public health, public safety, and job gains of cannabis legalization.”

MJBizDaily

Health Canada set to review Cannabis Act during fourth year of legalization

The Cannabis Council of Canada has asked that the review include a broad scope that includes the financial impacts of the Act and its regulations on the financial viability of license holders. Pierre Killeen, vice-president of the Cannabis Council of Canada, says, “We’re really looking at governments to play a bigger part in competition with the illicit market… and when we say competition with the illicit market, we’re not looking for the war on drugs 3.0, we’re talking for the ability to communicate with consumers and to give them products that they are looking for in a controlled, regulated environments.”

Global News

How is cannabis legalization going? Feds launch overdue review to find out

The federal government launched a long-awaited review on Thursday of how legalizing marijuana has affected the health of Canadians, the domestic cannabis industry and the black market. The Liberals lifted a century-long prohibition on the recreational use and sale of cannabis in October 2018, with the provision that they review the law three years after to came into force. That review is nearly one year overdue.

CTV News

Health Canada launches long-awaited review of Cannabis Act

More than 300 days past the legislated date, Ottawa has said it will begin its review of the Cannabis Act in order to assess the effects of legalization on health outcomes.

Globe and Mail

Grow Up Recap: Awards; state of the industry; panels and more

Here’s to the afterglow of the Grow Up Conference & Expo held in Niagara Falls from September 11th to 13th

Grow Opportunity

Canada business leaders note ‘lost opportunity’ for cannabis in Trudeau-Scholz meeting

Cannabis and mainstream business leaders said Canada missed an opportunity last week to highlight its regulated cannabis industry and promote international trade when Scholz visited the only large country in the world to have legalized marijuana.

MJBizDaily

BC strike ‘undermines struggling cannabis sector,’ business group says

The Cannabis Council of Canada business group wants the province of British Columbia to come up with a contingency plan to safeguard the supply of legal marijuana in the province as an ongoing strike at the province’s monopoly wholesaler leaves some stores with nothing to sell.

MJBizDaily

Nearly four years after cannabis legalized, mandatory review of the law is months overdue

The review should have started Oct. 17, 2021 — three years after legalization — but so far there's been no indication from Health Canada when the process may begin

National Post

420 with CNW — Canadian Cannabis Executives Share Their Industry Policy Reform Wishlists for 2022

In the interim, industry leaders have a few policy changes in mind that they would like to see in 2022. George Smitherman, president and CEO of the Cannabis Council of Canada, would like stronger edible products allowed on the market. Currently, cannabis law limits potency to 10 mg of THC per packaged product. In comparison, California allows for 100 mg of THC per package. Smitherman also feels it would be beneficial if customers could buy more cannabis-infused beverages in a single package because as the 28-gram possession limit for THC prevents them from purchasing more than five beverages.

Cannabis News Wire

Cannabis Training Canada links with C3 for training partnership

“This partnership will help C3 to diversify and improve the membership experience, as well as provide value to existing partners in the form of education and customized product and brand training for our member companies,” C3 CEO George Smitherman said in a statement.

Mugglehead

Nova Scotia Scientist Discovers Cannabis Strains Being Mislabelled On Shelves

George Smitherman, President of the Cannabis Council of Canada, says mislabeled cannabis comes from the trickling effect of illegal cannabis products. “License holders were able to bring, on a one-time basis, plants over from the illicit world where perhaps the naming and such was more of a trend and less of a scientific matter”, said Smitherman.

Researcher says cannabis products often mislabelled

George Smitherman, president of the Cannabis Council of Canada, told Global News that’s the trickling effect from illegal cannabis products. “Licence holders were able to bring, on a one-time basis, plants over from the illicit world where perhaps the naming and such was more of a trend and less of a scientific matter,” said Smitherman. The Cannabis Council of Canada has stated that cannabis products are rigorously tested before hitting the market, however, inaccurate labelling of strains is still a problem. According to Health Canada, more information will be provided to the cannabis industry to make sure packaging and labelling give consumers the information they seek.

Toronto Sun