Health Canada Reduces Cannabis License Wait Times with New Facility Policy
Are you one of the many potential Canadian LP Applicants still awaiting approval from Health Canada? You’re not alone.
An internal review conducted on Health Canada’s license approval process resulted in the addition of a new requirement for applicants. It is reported by Health Canada that a “significant amount” of its time was spent on the approvals of cultivation, processing, or sale of cannabis licenses for facilities that are not fully constructed. Health Canada now requires all facilities to be defined as a fully built to specifications site that follows all regulations. This change will help Health Canada approve facilities that are ready to take the licenses and run to start the cultivation or processing and sale of recreational or medicinal cannabis.
License applicants will no longer be able to receive approval based on the plans for their facility. Health Canada found that 70% of its applicants, who passed the paper-based review three years ago, still have not submitted any of the required evidence to prove that their facility is built to regulatory standards.
Health Canada, in a statement that was made on Wednesday, May 8th, stated: “Health Canada is implementing these adjustments following a review of its current licensing process. A significant amount of resources are being used to review applications from entities that are not ready to begin operations, contributing to wait times for more mature applications and an inefficient allocation of resources.”
The announced change is a continuation of more amendments to the agency’s policies that have made over the last two years. The agency has approved over 129 sites since 2017 and says that it now equals a number that is almost three times more than what It licensed within the four years before 2017. It estimates that there is over 600,000 square meters, or more than 6,458,346 square feet, of cultivation space in Canada.
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Health Canada Reduces Cannabis License Wait Times with New Facility Policy
