This week at StratCann, we covered the ongoing “Will they/Won’t they?” with Israel’s tariffs on Canadian cannabis, with the country’s Finance Minister rejecting the proposed tariffs.
We looked at the May 1 effective date for the rules allowing indoor cannabis growing at home in Manitoba, as well as some of the new clear packaging for cannabis flower beginning to hit retail shelves.
The University of Guelph now offers four new polyploid cultivars of cannabis for triploid breeding, production, and research. Tilray is exiting the New Zealand medical cannabis market, and we spoke with a BC retailer about how a line of credit has helped them expand their footprint and grow their business.
We also shared a guest post about a new campaign aimed at highlighting the lack of interest politicians are showing in the cannabis file this election, as well as another guest post examining the ongoing issue of interprovincial trade barriers for cannabis sales.
In Finance news, Decibel released its Q4 2024 report, and Mernova Medicinal filed for CCAA protection.
In other cannabis news
Unsurprisingly, cannabis sales declined in February (unadjusted), although they remained slightly above the sales figures for February 2024. These figures will be adjusted by Statistics Canada over time. All provinces showed year-over-year (YoY) increases, except for New Brunswick, Quebec, and British Columbia (BC). Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba saw significant YoY growth.
CTV News spoke with Miyo Askiy Cannabis Co. owner Brendan Anderson about a 4/20 gathering the store held in Regina.
Workers at the Saskatoon locations of Fire & Flower first applied to certify the United Food and Commercial Workers’ Union (UFCW) in October 2022, with a vote scheduled the following month. Still, the effort has dragged on for nearly three years, with allegations of unfair labour practices now headed to the Court of King’s Bench.
A Prince George cannabis retailer is one step closer to opening a new location after city council held a public hearing for a rezoning application and voiced support for it to receive a license at its Wednesday, April 23 meeting. Grasshopper already has two locations, one downtown on George Street and another in the Hart at Birchwood Mall.
Simply Solventless Concentrates Ltd. announced that it has achieved profitability at Humble Grow Co. (formerly Delta 9) and that initial post-integration Humble results are exceeding projections. SSC also announced that it will release its 2024 audited annual financial results on April 30, 2025.
Hyasynth Bio recently listed lab equipment for sale. Hyasynth was producing cannabinoids using yeast.
SNDL Inc. announced the launch of its Rise Rewards loyalty program beginning April 22, 2025, at all Value Buds locations in Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
Village Farms International, Inc. announced that on April 21, 2025, it received notification from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC that Nasdaq approved the company’s request for a 180-calendar-day extension to regain compliance with the minimum closing bid price of US$1.00 per share listing requirement.
The Monitor in Mernova Medicinals CCAA proceedings filed its first report on April 23 with a planned date of distribution of solicitation letters and NDAs to interested parties by May 12, and a bid deadline of June 23.
CBC spoke with Kim Qvist of BC’s Life Cycle Botanics about challenges facing the industry.
Pique Magazine spoke with Spensir Sangara, founder of THC Canada, Randy Tingskou, owner of A Little Bud, Jeff Sweetnam, who co-owns Spiritleaf, and Andrew Ellott, owner of The Nest and Coast Mountain Cannabis, about the state of retail cannabis in Whistler, BC.
Following CNN coverage on the topic, several media outlets picked up the story of a recent research paper that highlighted increases in “past-year” adolescent cannabis use following the legalization of edibles and extracts in Canada (except for Quebec). Although the actual increase was only from 14.6% to 15.9%, the increases do highlight differences in reported rates of use in the rest of Canada compared with Quebec’s more strict approach with access and product availability. (StratCann shared that research in last week’s Week in Weed roundup).
Another recent study reported that adverse effects to cannabis are common amongst community-dwelling older adults. Adverse effects were reported by 308 participants (61.2%) and included dry mouth, feeling high, impacting balance, and mental alertness. Compared with participants aged 50–60 years, those aged 70 years and older had lower odds of reporting any adverse effects.
New research recently published by the American Medical Association found that while the frequency of cannabis use among adults in Canada increased slightly in the years following nationwide legalization, problematic use of cannabis saw modest decreases.
A recently published data-based assessment of the impact of cannabis legalization on vehicle accident experience found the estimated seasonality and pre-legalization dynamics in Canadian vehicle insurance statistics continued after legalization without a significant change.
And yet another study concludes that shifting social acceptability of cannabis post-legalization in Canada is paralleled by increases in perceived health-related risks and decreases in perceived benefits.
Police officers from the Sûreté du Québec’s Contraband Investigation Service, following information from Health Canada, made arrests and conducted searches related to illicit cannabis in the Drummondville and Sherbrooke regions. The seizures include more than 311 cannabis plants, 6 kg of cannabis concentrate, 171 kg of cannabis, and more than 3 kg of hashish.
BC wants to seize a home where a cannabis extraction lab caused a deadly explosion earlier this year. RCMP found cannabis and a cannabis preparation/processing laboratory, including butane/propane tanks and cannabis packaging materials, following the explosion.
Some Kahnawà:ke residents are urging band council to block cannabis stores from setting up in the community, while council recently began considering 14 applications to open cannabis shops. Last November, the Kahnawà:ke Cannabis Control Board issued its first micro cannabis production licence.
Vancouver’s formerly lively 4/20 event was… underwhelming this year.
In international cannabis news
Several cannabis stocks “surged” this past week, with some speculating this could be related to a possible upcoming regulatory change in the US.
In Uruguay, after filing for bankruptcy, the Fotmer Corporation managed to restructure and return to the market.
Reuters looked at challenges with cannabis testing standards and methodology.
And finally, a piece in Slate argues that existing and past laws limiting cannabis potency are misguided, not just because they might actually lead people to consume more, but because they’re written in a way that fails to understand the complexity of cannabis potency.
