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

The pros, cons and unknowns of legal cannabis in Canada 3 years later

Now that the third anniversary of legalization has come, the statutory review of the Cannabis Act is set to begin. In a report card on legalization released this week, C3 gives governments a B grade on keeping cannabis out of the hands of youth and protecting public health — but that's as high as the grades go. C3 gives governments a failing grade in four areas — combating the illicit market, taxation policy, consumer education and awareness, and financial viability. "We can't get too excited in a circumstance where the illicit market remains with at least 50 per cent of the business," said George Smitherman, the president and CEO of C3 "If the illicit market is still selling billions of dollars of cannabis, that's a lot of tax revenue that governments aren't getting."

CBC News

Dreams of Pot Tourism in Canada Dashed by Tough Rules

Sensi Brands Inc., a C3 Member-Company, opened its farm store in a railway boxcar in St. Thomas, Ont., last week. The company fitted the car’s tiny windows with one-way glass to comply with the rules prohibiting exposure of the interior. “We’ve created a really cool experience because our brand is Station House,’’ says Tony Giorgi, Sensi’s chief executive officer and C3 Board Director.

Bloomberg

Marijuana seizures at the Michigan-Canada border are booming. Here’s why.

George Smitherman, President and CEO Cannabis Council of Canada, said there is so much production capacity among Canada’s legal marijuana market that producers have had to drop prices in order to compete with black-market sellers. The only way governments will ever compete with the black market is through legalization, he said. “One of the stronger rationales for legalization, especially if you’re coming from a conservative starting point, is that on day one, you begin restricting the business opportunities of the criminal element,” he said. “Legalization is regulation. That means bringing lawfulness to an area that was otherwise not experiencing that.”

M Live

She has to wait years to work in weed. Why, exactly?

The Cannabis Council of Canada and its membership of licensed cannabis companies are also pushing for more government initiatives designed to create a more equitable sector. The organization, headed by former Ontario Liberal MPP George Smitherman, included equity issues such as record expungement and investing in diversity programs. Prior to the recent federal election, the council created a Cannabis Voter Checklist to educate MPs and candidates.

Leafly

Cannabis retail experts say sales could one day hit $1 billion a month

"Over the next number of years, the overall scale of the cannabis industry and its contribution to the Canadian economy is going to become more noteworthy,” said George Smitherman of the Cannabis Council of Canada.

Toronto Sun