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“I would say it’s more arduous in the way it’s currently being done through Health Canada,” Anand said, noting that the time from approval to getting a license can take at least 18 months.

“The regulatory process at Health Canada is fairly complex, fairly stringent. You need to have everything in place, your facility built (or leased) before you can actually apply; it’s quite significant.”

As a result, micro-cultivators find themselves continuing to work in the gray market while awaiting licensing approval.

“I’ve been looking into it, read all the paperwork, studied the legalities of it, for the last six weeks,” said one applicant from rural British Columbia who requested anonymity because the application was still pending.


“I have a friend who’s looking for land and he’s going to be renting a warehouse for at least two years at over $5,000 a month, which he has to pay for at least a year and can’t do anything with while he waits for his license, if he gets it,” he said.

“So, you’re pushing over $1 million (in startup costs), depending if you have a building or not.”

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