Referrals from Health Canada led to the seizure of thousands of cannabis plants from three locations in Ontario in June.

Both instances involved personal and/or designated medical cannabis licence holders who are alleged to have been exceeding plant limits and operating as commercial-scale grow operations rather than adhering to personal use regulations.

First was a Health Canada compliance check on June 24, 2025, of a licensed medical marijuana grow operation in Merlin, Ontario, “exploiting regulatory loopholes, significantly exceeding its authorized plant limits.”

One day later, on June 25, the Chatham-Kent Police Service Intelligence Unit obtained judicial authorization to enter and search the property for illicit cannabis. This investigation resulted in the seizure of 2,765 cannabis plants, with an “estimated street value” of $2.765 million, or $1000 a plant. 

A 47-year-old man and a 39-year-old man, both from Merlin, were arrested and charged with cultivating, propagating, or harvesting cannabis plants derived from illicit seeds or plant material, in violation of the federal Cannabis Act. They were both released and are scheduled to appear in court on July 15, 2025.

Then on June 26, 2025, following another referral from Health Canada inspectors regarding suspected regulatory violations, Chatham-Kent police’s Intelligence Unit responded to two locations in Chatham. 

Police say it was determined that these buildings were licensed for four individuals to grow cannabis on-site, with each authorized to cultivate 438 plants annually for personal medical use. 

However, police go on to say that compliance checks revealed that both sites were cultivating “far beyond” their permitted limits, and operating as “commercial-scale grow operations rather than adhering to personal use regulations.”

As a result of these findings, the Intelligence Unit secured judicial authorization to search both properties for evidence of Cannabis Act offences. Those searches, conducted on June 26 and 27, 2025, led to the seizure of a total of 23,474 cannabis plants, with an estimated street value of approximately $23.4 million. Officers also secured various items related to the operations, including two vehicles.

Charges are anticipated in the coming weeks as the investigations continue. The Chatham-Kent Police Service is dedicated to addressing and enforcing compliance with cannabis regulations to ensure community safety and prevent the exploitation of the legal framework for profit.

Canada’s cannabis regulations allow people who are authorized to use cannabis for medical purposes to also grow their own or designate someone to do so for them. However, this program is not permitted for commercial, for-profit activities. 

Health Canada inspections of personal and designated cannabis production sites have increased in the past few years as the regulator continues their efforts to put more scrutiny on these types of non-commercial licences being used to divert cannabis into the illicit market.

There have long been concerns from different levels of government over the potential for misuse and diversion of cannabis from these types of licences associated with high gram totals. 

Health Canada has ramped up inspections of such licences, with more than 300 in the last two years. The most recent annual report also included 20 compliance and enforcement activities (other than inspection) for registered personal and designated production of cannabis for medical purposes, such as conducting seizures and destructions.

Of the 160 inspections of registered personal and designated production of cannabis for medical purposes locations conducted in 2023-2024, 74 were in British Columbia, 63 in Ontario, 18 in Quebec, and five in New Brunswick. In the previous year, the majority of such inspections (115 out of 170) were in Ontario. The year before that, the majority were also conducted in Ontario. 

The federal agency also sends notices to provincial colleges of physicians informing them of healthcare practitioners connected to numerous high-gram-a-day authorizations. In 2020, the Saskatchewan College of Physicians and Surgeons levied a $15,000 disciplinary action against a Saskatchewan doctor found to be profiting from issuing medical cannabis licences in 2018. 

In 2021, a medical cannabis patient who had been authorized 100 grams a day had a court reject an allowance for the patient to possess up to 1000 grams in public at a time.

In a memo from October 2022, Health Canada said that since it began a new process to address high authorization amounts through the medical cannabis program, the agency had observed a decrease of more than 50% in the number of individuals registering to produce cannabis for medical purposes.

The memo continued that in September 2021, approximately 47,000 individuals registered with Health Canada. As of September 30, 2022, the number of registered individuals had dropped to approximately 21,700.

Health Canada says it has also refused or revoked more than 1,400 registrations, including over 700 for public health and safety reasons. This represents a 113% increase in refusals and revocations and a 423% increase in the number of refusals and revocations made on the grounds of public health and public safety since March 2022.

While 4,728 healthcare practitioners were associated with registrations made with federally licensed sellers in the previous 12 months, 1,105 were associated with active personal/designated production registrations.

Of those 1,015, 233 healthcare practitioners were associated with authorizing amounts equal to or above 25 grams per day, and only ten authorized amounts equal to or above 100 grams per day.

Most (78%) healthcare practitioners who authorized more than 25 grams a day were in BC or Ontario. All who authorized more than 100 grams a day were in BC and Ontario. An authorization of 100 grams a day would equate to a limit of 487 plants at any given time. 

Such licences can also be combined for up to four per location, meaning a designated grower with several authorizations could be growing hundreds or even thousands of cannabis plants with the potential to produce hundreds of kilograms of cannabis a year.

Featured image via Chatham-Kent Police

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