Health Canada proposes numerous, significant regulatory changes

Health Canada released numerous proposed regulatory changes to the federal cannabis rules and regulations on June 7, as part of a 30-day consultation process ending on July 8, 2024.

The proposed changes include regulatory amendments that are aligned with the findings and recommendations from the federal government’s expert panel’s final report on the Legislative Review of the Cannabis Act.

The proposed changes aim to encourage more diversity and competition in the legal cannabis market by reducing the regulatory and administrative burdens faced by licence holders.

The health agency that oversees cannabis published a Notice of Intent in the Canada Gazette, Part I, is seeking feedback on potential amendments to the Cannabis Regulations.

Those proposed changes include:

Increasing the threshold for micros from 200m2 to 800 m2 and the micro processing licence possession threshold from 600 kg to 2,400 kg of dried cannabis or its equivalent.
Removing the requirement for actual THC and CBD on product labels, only total THC and CBD.
Increasing the number of permitted alternate Quality Assurance Persons (QAPs) to “one or more” from the current allowance of “up to two”.
Licensed processors would no longer be required to provide printed copies of the consumer information document with every cannabis product package sent.
Formalizing COVID-19 era “flexibilities”.
Adding grounds for suspension of any licences held by the same licence holder, should they have unpaid fees or have failed to submit a required statement of cannabis revenue for a licence as required under the Cannabis Fees Order.
Amending the Industrial Hemp Regulations to remove the maximum THC concentration of 10 parts per million for industrial hemp grain derivatives; the testing requirement; labelling for wholesale; and import and export requirements.
Allowing for differentiation in colour between the lid or cap of a container and the container itself.
Permitting cut-out windows on packaging for dried or fresh cannabis products and cannabis seeds, while upholding the exclusion of cut-out windows for all other classes of cannabis.
Allowing dried or fresh cannabis products, in addition to cannabis plants and cannabis seeds, to be packaged in transparent containers while maintaining existing rules prescribing opaque or translucent packaging of all other classes of cannabis.
Removing the cumulative 10 mg THC limit for an outermost container of edible cannabis product to allow greater flexibility in packing multiple immediate containers, as long as the immediate containers do not have more than 10 mg of THC each.
Removing the requirement to file an NNCP to Health Canada for dried and fresh cannabis products.