Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, has received an analytical testing license from Health Canada.
The license will allow researchers at Brock to analyze cannabis samples‘ chemical and biological components for effectiveness and safety.
Testing will take place using equipment within the Brock-Niagara Validation, Prototyping and Manufacturing Institute (VPMI).
“The cannabis analysis license truly opens the doors for the types of support that the VPMI can provide for the industry across the Niagara region, Ontario, and Canada,” says VPMI Scientific Director and Associate Professor of Chemistry Paul Zelisko.
“The licence will also permit the VPMI to support stakeholders in typing cannabis strains for more targeted and personalized applications and to help those within the industry to find value added compounds in waste materials to promote a more circular economy,” he adds.
These waste materials can include cannabis leaves, stems, and roots. Zelisko says.
“Discovering valuable compounds in this waste material can help a company mitigate costly disposal fees and/or develop new revenue streams,” he says.
The testing will also help companies look into the addition of particular flavours and scents to their cannabis edible, beverage, and vaping products to ensure products remain within Health Canada’s allowable THC limits.
Brock’s Acting Vice-President of Research, Michelle McGinn, says the new license is “a milestone” for the University and the Niagara region.
“It opens a new frontier for cannabis research that has immense implications for public health and economic growth,” says McGinn. “Consistent with VPMI’s mission, we are applying our specialized knowledge and state-of-the-art equipment to solve real-world challenges and thereby demonstrating how science and business flourish together.”
Health Canada has also renewed a research-related cannabis license granted to Brock University in 2019, one of the country’s first universities to receive a cannabis-related research and development license.
That license allowed Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) researchers and local industry partners to identify plant virus infections in cannabis and to develop cannabis-infused drink technology.
An analytical testing licence from Health Canada allows for activities such as testing for chemical contaminants, microbial contaminants, cannabinoid content, dissolution or disintegration, sterility, stability testing, and/or pesticides.
Health Canada currently lists 136 laboratories as being authorized to conduct analytics testing under the federal Cannabis Act. Brock’s new licence was issued on October 24, 2024.
