This past week at StratCann, we shared a new report from Deloitte highlighting Canada’s $1 a gram excise tax rate’s impact on the industry, and changes to store visibility rules in Ontario.
We looked into White Ash Group’s 2025 Cannabis Salary Guide, which includes insight from High Buds Club on some of the challenges facing budtenders, and also the folks at Horticulture by Commercial Lighting shared their thoughts on rethinking airflow in a controlled environment.
In industry news, Segra International acquired cannabis nursery Klonetics Plant Science, while MediPharm Labs and Rubicon Organics said they are close to closing on the Canna Farms deal.
In financial news, Decibel shared its Q1 2025 financial results.
In law enforcement news, Cannabis stores in Ontario and Manitoba faced a robbery and burglary. Ottawa police shut down another unlicensed cannabis store. At the same time, OPP seized thousands of cannabis plants following a Health Canada referral, and Waterloo Regional Police seized 3,500 cannabis plants from an indoor facility.
In other cannabis news
Total cannabis retail sales jumped up in March when looking at unadjusted numbers, although when looking at seasonally adjusted figures, March’s sales were actually just below February’s. Stats Canada often updates figures over time, so these numbers could change.
Patrick Cain had a good write-up about the current state of cannabis retail in Toronto and what the future in the saturated market will look like when a batch of commercial leases come up for renewal this year.
Modaq took an in-depth look at two court cases, which StratCann has also been covering, in which courts have rejected the CRA’s efforts to hold directors at two different cannabis companies liable for millions in excise duties.
The CBC also covered the AGCO’s rule changes for store visibility.
The National Post also covered Deloitte’s new report on cannabis excise.
The OCS launched a new public awareness campaign to discourage impaired driving.
Researchers at Western University in London, Ontario, looked at the progress made from 15 different driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC) education and prevention efforts aimed at young Canadians.
THC blood concentration was highlighted in a court case in Saskatchewan where a woman was found to have a THC blood concentration of 13.7 ng/mL following a fatal accident. The legal limit for THC is 5 ng/mL.
A billboard for an unlicensed cannabis shop in Quebec is causing a stir, primarily due to it not including French language.
Simply Solventless now says it plans to file its financials on or before June 2, 2025. The company had previously announced that its management discussion and analysis would be available on May 21, 2025, and prior to that, SCC had said it would release its 2024 audited annual financial results on April 30, 2025.
In an ongoing conflict between the two companies, MediPharm Labs Corp. alerted its shareholders to publicly available information about Regan McGee, the controlling shareholder, director, Chairman and CEO of Apollo Technology Capital Corporation: a dissident MediPharm shareholder.
Apollo also filed an amended and restated dissident proxy circular on May 20, 2025, seeking to elect McGee and five other directors to the MediPharm board of directors at the company’s Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for June 16, 2025.
On May 23, Apollo also said that MediPharm Labs’ Board of Directors did not respond to Apollo Capital’s “With Prejudice” offer to the Board to ensure the rights of shareholders are protected in connection with the Company’s upcoming 2025 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders, to be held on June 16, 2025.
Tilray Medical (“Tilray”), a division of Tilray Brands, Inc., announced the launch of its Good Supply branded products in Germany’s medical market. Each of the eight products will be available in both 15g and 500g formats.
The Government of Nunavut is seeking part-time contract liquor and cannabis inspectors in Rankin Inlet.
A new study published in the International Review of Public Policy looks at blame avoidance and the implementation of ambiguity in Canadian cannabis legalization.
A new study in the US says cannabis-related emergency department (ED) visits on April 20th were 17% higher than on control days. The findings are consistent with prior work examining the association between April 20th and ED visits in a small sample of British Columbian hospitals.
Vaping cannabis may not be as safe as many people believe, according to new research from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.
OPP and Six Nations police seized over 25 metric tonnes of contraband tobacco, as well as more than 1,360 lbs of illegal cannabis and related products on Six Nations of the Grand River Territory earlier in May.
A group of concerned Six Nations residents has created a petition calling for a local cannabis growing facility to be revoked of its licence. In a May 1 media release from Six Nations Cannabis Commission (SNCC), the commission responded to concerns over a community-licensed cannabis facility, “Legacy Farms”, and its non-band member employees possibly living on the property of the cannabis facility.
International cannabis news
Regulators in Australia are concerned that practitioners are putting profits over patient safety, with some writing more than 100 medicinal cannabis scripts a day. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency said one doctor appeared to have issued more than 17,000 scripts in six months, while a nurse practitioner appeared to have issued 31,000 scripts over a year.
Thailand is planning to introduce a requirement for medical certificates to be shown when buying cannabis, a senior official said on Thursday, in a move to tighten control of cannabis use, three years after it was decriminalized.
Members of UFCW Local 99 who work at Trulieve Cannabis Corp.’s central production facility in Arizona ratified their first union contract.
In its most recent session, the Board of Directors of Uruguay’s Institute for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis (IRCCA) decided to convene the Honorary National Council. This Council is made up of representatives from state agencies, the University of the Republic, and the Congress of Mayors, as well as representatives from membership clubs, self-cultivation associations, and licensed companies. The convening of this Council will allow for the formal and regular incorporation of a diversity of voices and experiences that will enrich the discussion, information exchange, and decision-making for improving public policy.
Portuguese police raided dozens of sites across the country as part of a wide-ranging operation against a sophisticated criminal network that used the legal medical cannabis industry as a cover for international cannabis trafficking.
