Cannabis micro-cultivation licence

Health Canada says a micro-cultivation licence allows you to produce cannabis plants and seeds, pollen and fresh and dried cannabis, with a limit on grow surface area and no size limit on areas used for non-cultivation activities and storage. For a buyer of a business that holds this licence, what it does not allow matters as much as what it does.

What the licence alone does not do

Health Canada says only micro or standard processing licence holders can sell or distribute fresh and dried cannabis packaged and labelled for retail to provincial and territorial authorized retailers. It also says a site can hold multiple licences. Ask which licences the business holds at its site, and what the Cannabis Regulations (s.11(5)) let it sell.

Other points to check

• The holder must retain the services of one individual as a master grower, responsible for cultivation, propagation and harvesting (Cannabis Regulations s.12).
• Subject to the regulations, the Minister may grant, refuse, suspend or cancel a security clearance (Cannabis Act s.67(1)).
• The licence is Health Canada’s, so ask it how a change in ownership is handled before relying on the licence continuing.

See Buying a cannabis cultivation facility in Canada and cannabis cultivation licence.