Micro cannabis licences were Canada’s most commonly-applied licence type, according to new figures from the agency. 

As of March 31, 2024, 109 new cannabis production applications are working their way through the licensing process. Of those, 63 were for micro cultivation and/or processing licences, 42 were for standard, three were for nurseries, and only one was for a medical-only sales licence. 

Of those applications, 40 were connected to Indigenous applicants, and 20 were for outdoor production licences. 

According to last year’s figures, as of March 31, 2023, 42% of applications in the queue were micro, while 51% were standard, from a total of 151 applications. 

Ontario had the greatest number of applicants in the queue as of March 31, 2024 (30), followed by Quebec and BC (both 26) and Alberta (14). Ontario also had the largest number of micro applicants (17), followed by Quebec (14), BC (12), and Alberta (10). The greatest number of Indigenous-affiliated applications were from BC (14). 

On a month-by-month basis, the number of applications from April 2023 to March 2024 fluctuated from as many as 17 to as few as six. 

As of March 31, 2024, the total number of federal cannabis licence holders in Canada (micro, standard, nursery, medical-only) was 901. Of those, 52 were connected with Indigenous licence holders, and 163 were for outdoor production. This is down from 913 active production licences in Canada as of March 31, 2023.

Of the 901 licences active as of March 31, 2024, just under half (396) are micros and 24 are nurseries, while 447 are standard and 34 are medical-only licences. Twenty-nine of those micros are Indigenous-owned and 69 are outdoor. 

Ontario is home to the largest number of federal cannabis licences (274), followed by BC (228), Quebec (188), and Alberta in a distant fourth with 81. BC also has the largest number of micros (101), followed by Quebec (99), and Ontario (82).  

The number of new sites licensed declined significantly in the 12 months ending March 2024, with 31 licences issued in April 2023 and just one in March 2024.

Meanwhile, revocations and suspensions have been increasing, with 270 revoked at the request of the licence holder as of March 31, 2024 (since October 17, 2018), eight revoked by Health Canada, and 43 expired, for a total of 321 inactivated licences.

This is an increase from the 166 licences either revoked or expired as of March 31, 2023—146 of these were revoked at the request of the licence holder, while three had been revoked by Health Canada and 17 expired. There were just 17 licences issued in the first three months of 2024, compared to 33 in the first three months of 2023.

Feature image from: Craft Kings Cannabis