Types of cannabis and industrial hemp licences

Micro-cultivation licence

A micro cultivation licence allows you to produce cannabis plants and seeds, and fresh and dried cannabis. With this licence, you can use a grow surface area (plant canopy) of up to 200 m². There’s no size limit for areas used for non-cultivation activities and storage. For more information about calculating the grow surface areas, refer to Micro-cultivation, nursery and micro-processing.

Nursery licence

A nursery licence allows you to produce cannabis plants and seeds for starting materials. With this licence, you can:

• use a grow surface area (plant canopy) of up to 50 m² for budding and flowering plants. There’s no size limit for non-budding and non-flowering plants, such as cannabis in their vegetative stage (mother plants, plant cuttings or clones) 
• have up to 5 kg of harvested flowering heads at any given time (except seeds). You must destroy flowering heads (except seeds), leaves and branches within 30 days of harvesting them

For more information about determining the grow surface areas, refer to Micro-cultivation, nursery and micro-processing.

Standard cultivation licence

A standard cultivation licence allows you to produce cannabis plants and seeds, and fresh and dried cannabis with no size limit on grow surface areas (plant canopies).

Tables 1 and 2 provide a summary of the types of cannabis that cultivation licence holders can sell and distribute.

Micro-processing licence

A micro-processing licence allows you to produce all types of cannabis. However, you can’t produce cannabis synthetically, such as through chemical reactions or recombinant bacteria. You can only possess up to 600 kg of dried cannabis each calendar year, or its equivalent amount. This doesn’t apply to you if the only cannabis you possess is grown from your own micro-cultivation licence at the same site. For more information about the possession of cannabis limit, refer to Micro-cultivation, nursery and micro-processing.

Standard processing licence

A standard processing licence allows you to produce all types of cannabis with no limit on cannabis possession.

When you first get a new processing licence, there are restrictions on what you can sell.

The tables below provide a summary of the stages and types of cannabis that processing licence holders can sell and distribute at initial licensing and after a licence amendment. For packaged and labelled cannabis topical, extracts and edibles, you’re restricted to who you can sell to at initial licensing. You’ll need to add sale activities for new cannabis class to your licence if you want to remove this restriction.

This licence also allows you to:

• possess packaged and labelled cannabis
• sell and distribute packaged and labelled cannabis
• register clients and do sales transactions

You can have this licence alone or combine it with others at the same site. If you combine this licence with a micro-cultivation, nursery or micro-processing licence, you’ll need to have in place the physical security requirements of a standard licence.

For a licence without possession of cannabis, you can have this licence either alone, or you can combine it with a micro-cultivation, nursery or micro-processing licence at the same site. You can’t have a licence for sale for medical purpose with possession and without possession at the same time.

On its own

On its own, this licence allows you to:

• sell another licence holder’s packaged and labelled cannabis without possessing it on your site
• register clients and do sales transactions

This licence doesn’t allow you to have cannabis on your site. You’d coordinate the sale with a holder of a licence with a cultivation, nursery or processing licence. That other licence holder would fulfill the order and distribute directly to your registered client. This licence also doesn’t allow you to sell directly to provincial and territorial authorized retailers (non-medical sale).

If you only want this licence, you‘ll only need to meet the requirements for a sale for medical purposes without possession licence.

Combined with another licence

You can combine a sale for medical purposes without possession licence with a:

• micro-cultivation licence
• nursery licence
• micro-processing licence

You’ll have to meet the physical security measures for all of the licences on your site. Combined with another licence, the sale for medical purposes without possession licence allows you to:

• sell and distribute cannabis from your micro-cultivation, nursery, or micro-processing licence directly to registered clients on behalf of your sale for medical purposes without possession licence
  • micro-cultivation licences are allowed to distribute cannabis plants and seeds, and fresh and dried cannabis
  • nursery licences are allowed to distribute cannabis plants and seeds
  • micro-processing licences are allowed to distribute all types of packaged and labelled cannabis products on your site (with amendment, where applicable)
• sell another licence holder’s packaged and labelled cannabis without possessing it on your site. You’d coordinate the sale with the other licence holder. That other licence holder will fulfill the order and distribute directly to your registered client
• register clients and do sales transactions

You’ll have the same authorizations to sell and distribute non-medical cannabis as your combined micro-cultivation, nursery or micro-processing licence.

Note: When micro-processing licences are combined with a sale for medical purposes without possession licence, you are only allowed to possess up to 600 kg of dried cannabis, or its equivalent amount, on your site per calendar year. For more information about calculating the possession of cannabis limit, refer to Micro-cultivation, nursery and micro-processing.

This table provides a summary of the types of packaged and labelled cannabis that sale for medical purposes licence holders can sell and distribute.

An analytical testing licence allows you to do analytical testing of cannabis, including for other licence holders. This includes the required testing before cannabis can be sold to sale for medical purposes licence holders, registered clients, and provincial and territorial authorized retailers (non-medical sale). You must destroy the cannabis sample and all cannabis obtained from that sample within 90 days of completing the test. If you don’t start the test within 120 days of receiving the cannabis sample, then you must, by the end of this period, either destroy it or distribute it to:

• another analytical testing licence holder
• individuals referred to in section 4 of the Cannabis Regulations

This licence also allows you to:

• possess cannabis for analytical testing
• obtain cannabis by altering its chemical or physical properties
• distribute cannabis to another analytical testing licence holder for the purpose of testing
• do research and development within your authorized activities, such as development and validation of testing methodologies
• produce, distribute, and sell reference standards, and manufacture and assemble test kits

Analytical testing activities you can do with an analytical testing licence include testing for:

• cannabinoid content
• microbial and chemical (including pesticides) contaminants
• dissolution or disintegration
• sterility or stability

If you want to do research outside of your authorized activities, you need to apply for a research licence. This includes research such as sensory testing (organoleptic) of cannabis. For example, taste testing edible cannabis (chocolates) to assess its flavour profile.

A research licence allows you to do research and development with cannabis, including research outside the authorized activities for other cannabis licences.

This licence also allows you to, for the purpose of research:

• possess cannabis
• grow cannabis
• produce cannabis
• transport, send or deliver cannabis between your licensed sites
• administer and distribute any types of cannabis to a human participant, for example:
  • conduct sensory testing with individuals by ingestion, inhalation, or applied on hair, skin or nails, indirectly or directly. For example, taste testing edible cannabis (chocolates) to assess its flavour profile
• do research activities, such as:
  • in vivo and in vitro studies, cultivation (including plant genetics), cannabis product development, non-cannabis product development and other research (for example, educational programs)
• administer and distribute cannabis to a human participant as part of a non-therapeutic research on cannabis (NTRC) study, such as:
  • asking participants to assess the smell of dried cannabis after a single puff
  • assessing participants in a driving simulation test to find out how long they’re impaired after researchers have administered cannabis

Depending on your research activities with cannabis, you may need to submit more information. If it’s part of a clinical trial, you need to get a No Objection Letter (NOL). If it involves animals (in vivo), you may need to get a Veterinary Drug Experimental Studies Certificate (ESC).

For more information on research licences, refer to the Types of research with cannabis web page.

Research licences generally do not authorize the sale of cannabis, except in specific circumstances where a researcher may be permitted by Health Canada to sell the physical product of their research (plants or seeds only). Distribution to other licence holders and selected individuals is permitted and is not considered sale. Distribution would include, for example, sending cannabis to another research licence holder who is a partner in a research project, or sending cannabis to an analytical testing licence holder for testing.

The tables below provide a summary of the stages and types of cannabis that research licence holders can sell (only if authorized by Health Canada) or distribute.

A cannabis drug licence allows you to work with drugs containing cannabis.

This licence also allows you to:

• possess cannabis
• produce a drug containing cannabis
• sell or distribute drugs containing cannabis

You need to follow the Food and Drug Regulations, such as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) requirements, to produce a drug containing cannabis. In certain cases, you’ll also need a drug establishment licence (DEL) with your cannabis drug licence.

This licence doesn’t allow you to administer cannabis or cannabis drugs to a human participant. If you want to do this, you need to apply for a research licence.

The table below provides a summary of the drugs containing cannabis a holder of a cannabis drug licence can sell, distribute or receive.

An industrial hemp licence allows you to work with industrial hemp. Industrial hemp is a cannabis plant – or any part of that plant- that has a concentration of THC (0.3% or less) in flowering heads and leaves.

This licence also allows you to:

• grow industrial hemp (including propagation as a plant breeder)
• possess industrial hemp, including:
  • rendering grain non-viable
  • preparing (conditioning) seed
  • processing or making products from the grain (such as hemp seed oil)
• sell industrial hemp. You can only sell flowering heads, leaves or branches of the industrial hemp to an industrial hemp or cannabis licence holder

If you want to make products from the flowering heads, leaves or branches of industrial hemp, you need a cannabis processing licence. This includes extracting CBD from flowering heads, leaves or branches of the industrial hemp.

You need a cannabis licence to import or export cannabis. You can only import or export cannabis for medical or scientific purposes. You’re strictly prohibited from importing and exporting cannabis for any other purpose (such as distributing for non-medical purposes). You’ll also need to apply for an import or export permit (for each shipment) to import cannabis into Canada or export cannabis to other countries.

You need an industrial hemp licence to import or export industrial hemp (grains and seeds). You’ll also need to apply for an import or export permit (for each shipment) to import industrial hemp into Canada or export industrial hemp to other countries.