Canada

On Monday, Ontario’s government announced that it would start legal cannabis sales as online-only when it becomes legal on Oct. 17 and would delay brick and mortar sales until April of 2019, Bloomberg reports. In the meantime, Ontario has partnered with Shopify to provide a government-run, online-only platform for the sale of legal cannabis. Once private brick […]

Constellation Brands, the brewer of Corona beer and a major distributor for Svedka vodka, just invested nearly $4 billion (CAD $5 billion) into Canada’s Canopy Growth, Marketwatch reports. It is the largest investment ever in the cannabis industry. After news of the announcement broke, Canopy Growth — which is publicly listed on both the New York and […]

Online retail giant Shopify has been cutting huge deals with Canadian provinces and cannabis producers to set itself up as the largest cannabis point-of-sale and inventory management platform, reports The Motley Fool. Shopify has signed contracts with the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia, as well as with Aurora Cannabis, Canopy Growth Corp., Hydropothecary Corp., […]

Entrepreneurs are flocking to Toronto, Ontario in order to secure real estate for future cannabis retailer locations, CBC reports. The rush is underway despite there being no official word from province officials about how it plans to manage the private cannabis retailer market. “Ontario is a frenzy right now in terms of entrepreneurs, real estate developers […]

Afzal Hasan is the President and General Counsel for CannaRoyalty, a Canada-based investment firm with cannabis acquisitions in Canada, California, Washington, Oregon, Florida, and Puerto Rico. In this episode of the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast, Afzal joins host TG Branfalt to discuss his transition into the cannabis space as a high-level corporate attorney; the strategies being used […]

In an effort to battle falling beer sales, Molson-Coors has embraced Canada’s legal cannabis market by partnering with The Hydropothecary Corporation to create a cannabis beverage startup, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The startup formed by the partnership will stand alone, with its own board of directors. Molson-Coors will own 57.5% of the new startup […]

Canada’s federal government will provide some of the same subsidies to cannabis growers that it does to traditional agriculture operations when the cannabis market opens later this year, Forbes reports. Agricultural ministers from all levels of Canadian government decided during an annual meeting in Vancouver to allow cannabis growers access to the same programs that support […]

An insider source reportedly says the Ontario government will allow for privately owned cannabis shops when Canada’s adult-use market comes online in October, according to a CBC report. The source, who spoke with The Globe and Mail on the condition of anonymity, suggested that the government would maintain its control over cannabis distribution and online sales. Officials […]

As excitement grows over the imminent legalization of cannabis throughout Canada, a search and rescue team in British Columbia warned this week via blog post against the dangers of consuming cannabis in the backcountry. Specifically, North Shore Rescue — one of the busiest search and rescue crews in B.C. — is alarmed by the emerging […]

Toronto-based Province Brands is developing the world’s first beer brewed using raw materials from the cannabis plant, The Guardian reports. Other companies have undertaken similar projects, but those companies typically create a beer from barley and hops and then infuse the beverage with cannabis or hemp oils, according to Province Brands’ Dooma Wendschuh. “That’s not what […]

Canadian cannabis producer and processor Tilray made history last week as the first cannabis company to hold an initial public offering on the U.S.-based Nasdaq stock exchange, according to a report from Fox Q13. Other Canadian cannabis companies have traded on U.S.-based stock exchanges — Tilray, however, is the first to do so with an […]

A new, broad-spectrum light that mimics sunlight more closely than others is being tested in Canada, the Edmonton Journal reports. The light is manufactured by Edmonton-based G2V Optics and was originally designed to test solar cells at the University of Alberta. Michael Taschuk, the developer of the light, previously managed a team of researchers at the […]

British Columbia, Canada has signed agreements over production rights for the province’s adult-use cannabis market with 31 different licensed producers, the province’s Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) announced on Wednesday. The LDB will be B.C.’s sole wholesale distributor of cannabis. All 31 of the cannabis cultivators are currently registered with Canada‘s federal government under the nation’s medical cannabis […]

The U.S. Border Patrol has been giving lifetime bans at the border to those associated with Canada’s legal cannabis industry, according to The Star Vancouver. Because the border is under federal jurisdiction — even in states like Washington that have legalized cannabis — Border Patrol agents are required to obey U.S. federal requirements and issue […]

Authorities in Saskatchewan, Canada have established a provincial fine structure for cannabis offenses for after federal legalization takes place in October. According to a Global News report, the fines will range from between $200 and $2,250 depending on the severity of the offense.  Justice Minister Don Morgan said the goal was to create “an appropriate disincentive for […]

The Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Commission (AGLC) announced the 13 licensed producers who will serve the province’s adult-use marketplace when cannabis becomes federally legal in Canada on October 17, the Calgary Herald reports. Only two of the companies, Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth, actually have production facilities located in Alberta. The other 11 companies are: […]

The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned Canada’s recent legalization of adult-use cannabis, according to a Newsweek report. The Ministry said in an official statement that the move was a breach of Canada’s “international legal obligations.” “We expect Canada’s partners in the G7 to respond to its “high-handedness” because this alliance has repeatedly declared its adherence to the […]

While cannabis enthusiasts are celebrating the passage of Canada‘s historic legalization legislation this week, the rules agreed on by lawmakers include unfortunate stipulations for entrepreneurs in terms of product packaging and branding opportunities, according to a report by World Trademark Review. Specifically, cannabis products sold in Canada’s adult-use marketplace must include “little branding and strict health […]

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Wednesday that the nation’s adult-use cannabis industry will officially launch on October 17, The Hill reports. The landmark legislation, which passed its final hurdle in the Senate this week with a 52-29 vote, makes cannabis possession and consumption legal for adults 18 and older throughout the nation. “Today I’m also […]

Fulfilling a popular campaign promise of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada has officially voted to legalize the adult possession and use of cannabis, according to a CNN report. In a 52-29 vote on Tuesday afternoon, the Senate advanced bill C-45 for the last time, accepting changes put forward in the House of Commons and sending the bill […]

Lawmakers in Canada’s House of Commons voted 205-82 in favor of Bill C-45, aka The Cannabis Act, on Monday, CBC reports. The legalization bill now returns to the Senate, which has already approved an earlier version of the bill but now must try to reconcile with changes made in the House. Last time the Senate worked […]

Last week, Canada’s Senate approved the House of Commons’ bill to legalize cannabis but attached several amendments limiting the scope of legalization, including one that allows provinces to ban home cultivation and another imposing heavy advertising restrictions on cannabis companies. Now, the House of Commons has rejected a number of the Senate’s amendments — including […]

Lt. Gen. Chuck Lamarre, chief of military personnel in the Canadian Armed Forces, said in a recent interview with the CBC that the Canadian military is not in a position to impose an outright ban on adult-use cannabis. However, Lamarre indicated that restrictions will be more wide-ranging on cannabis consumption than on alcohol. The Canadian […]

Canadian senators have ratified Bill C-45, aka the Cannabis Act, in a 56-30 vote with one abstention, according to a CBC report. The vote was true to party lines, with Conservatives dissenting and Liberals and most Independents falling in line under the leadership of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who made legalization a large part of his […]