Micro cannabis licences continue to grow in popularity

November 15, 2022 | Staff

Micro cannabis licences continue to be the most popular licence type in Canada, with more than half of the 185 licences issued so far this year being a micro cultivator, micro producer, or both.

Since January 1, 2022, Health Canada has issued 185 new federal cannabis licences. One hundred of them are micros, while 64 are standard licences. Another six are nursery licences and 15 are stand-alone medical-sales-only licences.

Micro-cultivation licences—generally one of the most affordable and easiest production licences to receive—was the most popular so far this year, with 68 licences issued so far out of 185, about one-third of the total licences issued.

There were 12 micro-processing licences issued and 20 licence holders who now have a micro-processing and micro-cultivation licence. Health Canada currently lists 926 federal licences, 361 of which are micros, or about one-third of all licences issued.

There were 21 standard processing licences listed so far in 2022, 18 standard cultivation licences, and 25 licence holders from this year with both a processing and cultivation licence.

Another 15 of the licences issued thus far are for medical sales only (no cultivation or processing), while six were cannabis nurseries.

Quebec was the most frequent place for these new micro licences to be located, with 37 federal licences being located in la belle province so far in 2022, followed by British Columbia with 19, Ontario with 17, Alberta with 15, Manitoba with four, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with three each, and Saskatchewan with two.

Of the current 361 micro licence holders in Canada, British Columbia is currently home to the most, with 84, followed by Ontario with 81, and Quebec with 80.

Of the 361 micro licences currently listed as active, micro cultivation is the most common with 226. Another 44 are micro-processing licences, and 91 are listed as micro-processing and micro-cultivation sites. Thirty-one of these have a medical sales licence, as well.