The number of new micro cultivators and processors licensed in 2024 outpaced standard licenses by almost a two-to-one ratio.

The numbers indicate an ongoing trend, also seen in the previous year, as micro licenses are generally processed faster and cost much less than a standard licence. Health Canada has also proposed increasing the canopy and processing capacity of micros, although an early election could impact these changes.

Licence updates in 2024

Health Canada issued 101 new licenses in 2024. Of these:

• 62 were micros
• 3 were nurseries
• 36 were standard cultivator, and/or processor, and/or medical sales licenses

By our calculations, there were also notable changes on the other side of the equation:

• 98 licenses Revoked on Request
• 11 suspensions (6 of which were subsequently lifted)
• 15 expirations
• 8 Revocations by the Minister

This brings the total to 121 licenses either revoked or expired, meaning there was a net loss of 20 licenses in 2024.

Currently, there are 914 federal licenses. According to Health Canada only 322 of 808 cannabis excise licence holders were active and remitting excise duties to the CRA as of September 2023.

Product recalls

In 2024, there were 11 cannabis product recalls in Canada. The majority of these were due to labeling or packaging errors, such as incorrect product information or missing required details.

A smaller number involved quality assurance issues, including higher-than-allowable levels of microbials or missing a microbial test. One recall was issued for the presence of an unlabelled cannabinoid, hexahydrocannabinol (HHC).

It’s worth noting that all of these recalls were voluntary, reflecting proactive compliance by producers.

For comparison, there were 12 cannabis product recalls in 2023, and since legalization in 2018, there have been 80 recalls in total.

Featured image via Habitat Life, a micro producer in BC.

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