Question Period Note: Cannabis

• Since its coming into force on October 17, 2018, the Cannabis Act has created a strict legal framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis across Canada.

• The legislation is designed to keep cannabis out of the hands of youth and profits out of the pockets of organized crime by fostering a robust legal and regulated industry.

• Since 2018, our Government has implemented a robust public health approach to keeping cannabis out of the hands of youth and ensuring adults have access to a quality-controlled and regulated supply, while reducing the illicit market.
• Since legalization, rates of use among youth have not changed significantly, and more Canadians who consume cannabis are purchasing from legal retailers.
IF PRESSED ON THE LEGISLATIVE REVIEW OF THE CANNABIS ACT
• Health Canada is pleased to have received the Expert Panel’s final report, and the Government has tabled the report in Parliament on March 21, 2024.   
• Health Canada thanks Mr. Morris Rosenberg and members of the Expert Panel for their commitment and dedication to leading the evidence-based and inclusive review of the Cannabis Act.    
• Health Canada is carefully reviewing and analyzing the report and its recommendations. 
• The Panel’s findings will help inform Health Canada’s ongoing efforts to improve the operation and administration of Canada’s cannabis control framework.
IF PRESSED ON THE REVIEW OF THE MEDICAL ACCESS REGIME
• The Government actively monitors the medical access program and committed to evaluate the framework within the legislative review of the Cannabis Act.
• The Expert Panel considered the medical access program in their review and made recommendations related to medical access.
• Health Canada is carefully reviewing and analyzing the Expert Panel’s recommendations. 
IF PRESSED ON NON-COMPLIANT EDIBLE CANNABIS PRODUCTS THAT EXCEED THE REGULATORY LIMIT FOR THC
• The Cannabis Act and its regulations were designed first and foremost to protect public health and public safety.
• Health Canada is aware of non-compliance regarding edible cannabis products with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) quantities that exceed the allowable 10 mg per container limit.
• Health Canada is working with regulated parties to ensure that they understand and comply with the regulatory requirements.
IF PRESSED ON ILLEGAL CANNABIS PRODUCTS TARGETED AT YOUTH
• The Cannabis Act aims to protect youth from the risks of cannabis, including restricting promotion; prohibiting products and packaging appealing to youth; and setting THC limits.
• Illegal edible cannabis often mimics common snacks and candy, and may contain harmful levels of contaminants and dangerously high levels of THC.
• The Act gives law enforcement tools to crackdown on illegal sales, including those targeting youth.
• Health Canada continues to educate Canadians to understand the difference between legal and illegal cannabis and the health and safety risks.
IF PRESSED ON THE YOUTH-ORIENTED PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN
• We invested in evidence-based campaigns to educate youth and young adults on risks and harms of cannabis.
• In 2018, Health Canada launched Pursue Your Passion, a campaign that visited high schools and universities across the country.
• The campaign has been updated to be a teacher-led presentation for youth to include information on the different methods of consumption and effects of cannabis on mental health.
• The Department also launched an updated version as a virtual, ambassador-led presentation, visiting over 500 schools between March 2023 and March 2024.
• The Department continues to work on additional efforts to educate youth and young adults on cannabis, and more broadly, polysubstance use and mental health.

The Cannabis Act

On October 17, 2018, the Cannabis Act came into force, implementing a new comprehensive public health approach that is more effective in protecting youth and keeping profits out of the pockets of criminals and organized crime.

The Cannabis Act creates a legal and regulatory framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis in Canada. This framework was informed by the recommendations of the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation.

The Act restricts youth access to cannabis; prohibits promotions that are designed to encourage youth to use cannabis; imposes serious criminal penalties on people who break the law, especially those who import or export cannabis illegally, or provide cannabis to youth; establishes strict product safety and quality requirements; reduces the burden on the criminal justice system; provides for the legal production of cannabis; allows adults to possess and access regulated, quality-controlled, legal cannabis; and, enhances public awareness of the health risks associated with cannabis.

For example, the Regulations require plain packaging and labelling for all cannabis products with restrictions on logos, colours, and branding. Cannabis products must be in packaged in a child-resistant container and be labelled with the standardized cannabis symbol, the mandatory health warning message, and include specific product information (e.g., delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) information).

Legislative Review

The Cannabis Act requires that the Minister initiate a review of the Act and its administration three years following the coming into force of the Act (i.e., after October 17, 2021), and that a report of the review’s findings be tabled before both Houses of Parliament within 18 months of the start of the review.

The Cannabis Act further stipulates that the review must include an assessment of the impact of the Cannabis Act on public health and, in particular, on: the health and consumption habits of young persons in respect of cannabis use; Indigenous persons and communities; and, the cultivation of cannabis plants in a dwelling-house.  

On September 22, 2022, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions launched the legislative review of the Act. An Expert Panel, chaired by Morris Rosenberg, led the review, and a report including findings or recommendations resulting from the review was tabled in both Houses of Parliament on March 21, 2024.

The Expert Panel engaged broadly with governments, Indigenous peoples, youth, marginalized and racialized communities, cannabis industry representatives and people who access cannabis for medical purposes to gather perspectives on the implementation and administration of the Act. The Expert Panel also met with experts in relevant fields, including, but not limited to, public health, substance use, criminal justice, law enforcement and health care.

On October 10, 2023, the Expert Panel released their “What We Heard Report” which summarized the perspectives shared by stakeholders as well as evidence related to each area of the review.

The department received the Expert Panel’s final report, which includes 54 recommendations and 11 observations. The department is conducting an analysis of the recommendations and observations to understand their potential implications for the Cannabis Program. Over the coming months, the department will work closely and collaboratively with other implicated federal departments, provinces and territories, partners and stakeholders as next steps are considered.

The report includes recommendations related to: 
• Expanding efforts on prevention, research and public education; 
• Increasing policy and regulatory work for new and higher potency products; 
• Improving guidance for industry on promotion, packaging and labelling practices; 
• Creating new authorities to increase control for Indigenous communities over cannabis-related activities, better supports and nation-to-nation agreements; 
• Accelerating work to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden, review of the excise tax regime, and higher duties on higher potency products; 
• Improving supports for marginalized and racialized groups;  
• Establishing in-person pharmacy access option for the medical access program, improving clinical guidance and continuing work to eliminate abuse of the program; and 
• Addressing organized crime, abuse of the personal and designated production program, unauthorized on-reserve sales and illicit online sellers. 

Medical Access Framework

Medical Regime
 
Health Canada administers a medical access program under the Cannabis Act and the Cannabis Regulations.   

Within the current regulatory framework, individuals who have an authorization from their health care practitioner can access cannabis for medical purposes in one of the following ways:
• purchase quality-controlled cannabis from a wide variety of federally licensed sellers inspected by Health Canada;
• produce an authorized amount of cannabis for their own medical purposes; or
• designate someone to produce cannabis for them.

As of September 30, 2023, 188,301 patients were registered with federally licensed sellers (Note: these are not always unique individuals as individuals may be registered with more than one licensed seller, provided an original medical document was used with each registration).

As of December 31, 2023, 13,731 individuals were registered with Health Canada for personal and designated production of cannabis for their own medical purposes.

Licensed cannabis producers must pay a federal excise duty when they package cannabis products, including those sold to patients for medical purposes. Federal policies related to excise duties on cannabis fall under the purview of the Minister of Finance. 

Authorizations for personal or designated production
Personal and designated production are subject to regulatory requirements designed to ensure that cannabis is consumed only with the approval and under the supervision of an authorized health care practitioner. 

Health Canada reviews all applications for personal or designated production to ensure that the regulatory requirements are met. Health Canada also confirms that the health care practitioner is authorized by—and in good standing with—the relevant provincial or territorial regulatory health authority, and that the medical document is an original that has not been altered or falsified.  

Once a registration certificate is issued, the personal or designated producer may not produce in excess of the maximum limits outlined in a registration certificate and may not sell cannabis to any person. Selling cannabis without authorization is a criminal offence.  

A maximum of four registrations are permitted per production site. Only the individuals authorized to produce cannabis for their own medical purposes, or the person designated to produce it for them, can tend to the plants.

Health Canada has the ability to inspect a production site if it is not the registrant’s home to ensure it is abiding by the terms set out in the individual’s registration certificate.

Accidental Paediatric Ingestion of Cannabis and Poisonings

Various sources of evidence indicate significant associations between cannabis legalization and increases in cannabis-related emergency department visits, hospitalizations, intensive care unit admissions and poison center calls, both in Canada and across many U.S. states.

These increases have been attributed to accidental ingestion of edible cannabis in those under 12 years old, and primarily by children younger than 5 ingesting cannabis whose source is unknown or illegal. Illegal edible products – often referred to as ‘copycat’ products – resemble popular confectionary products (e.g., Starbursts, Skittles) that come in colorful packaging and are appealing to children. Further, illegal edible products can contain 100 mg of THC or more per package, whereas legal cannabis products cannot exceed more than 10 mg of THC per package. The 10 mg THC limit on legal edible cannabis products exists to protect against accidental consumption, overconsumption and poisoning.

Since the coming into force of the Cannabis Act and its regulations, Health Canada monitors, assesses and reports on adverse reactions associated with cannabis through the Canada Vigilance Database. The findings are used to inform evidence-based information on health and safety risks with cannabis, including risk communications and educational resources.

The Department issued a public advisory in December 2021, and updated the advisory in April 2022 and May 2023. The advisory reminds Canadians of the risk of serious harm should children accidentally consume edible cannabis, particularly products that are illegal and unregulated. It also helps to identify illegal ‘copycat’ edible cannabis products..

In Spring 2023, Health Canada also launched a public education campaign on the risks of accidental cannabis poisonings in children and to provide information on how to help prevent cannabis poisonings, what a poisoning looks like, and what to do if a cannabis poisoning is suspected. In 2024, this campaign is expanding, reaching out to healthcare providers and early childhood educators to effectively disseminate public education materials and enhance awareness.

Israel Initiates an Anti-Dumping Investigation on Cannabis for Medical Purposes Imported from Canada

On January 17, Israel initiated an anti-dumping investigation into cannabis for medical purposes imported from Canada. The trade of cannabis for medical purposes is highly regulated and is done in accordance with international obligations. Canada accounts for a large majority of Israel’s imports, approximately 80% according to the Government of Israel. In 2023, 34 unique Canadian licence holders obtained Health Canada export permits and exported 79 shipments to Israel. After Australia, Israel is the second largest export market for Canadian cannabis (based on Canadian cannabis exports in 2021, 2022 and 2023).

The Government of Canada’s engagement in an anti-dumping investigation is generally limited to ensuring companies are informed and understand how to engage in the process, since the matters involve the commercial practices of private entities.

The World Trade Organization Anti-Dumping Agreement allows members to impose an anti-dumping duty in response to dumped imports that are found to be injuring or threatening to injure their domestic industry. The Agreement also sets out the rules and procedures for conducting investigations and applying anti-dumping duties (e.g., evidentiary standards, notification and transparency requirements, timelines, rules for calculating dumping margins and applying duties, and basis for determining injury). An anti-dumping duty is meant to offset the price advantage caused by dumping.

• The legal cannabis market continues to displace the illicit market. According to Statistics Canada data, the legal share of the value of cannabis consumed has steadily increased to 74% in the third quarter of 2023, compared to just 9% prior to legalization.