On October 17, 2018, Canada became the first G7 nation to legalize adult-use cannabis. With the potential of being a global leader in this space, the industry has since faced numerous hurdles in navigating an overly complex regulatory environment.
While the long-awaited federal review of the Cannabis Act is finally underway, there are some missing pieces from the review that will leave the sector with continued challenges.
On the positive side, the review sets out to address the original intent of the Cannabis Act: eliminating the illegal market and preventing youth from accessing cannabis. In addition, it will revisit the social equity mandate for cannabis legalization, which was not originally included in the Act.
On the downside, it completely exempts wholesale distribution, which includes all retail stores and accounts for a significant portion of the cannabis sector. While wholesale and distribution technically fall under provincial purview, the federal review offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of each province's and territory's regulatory approach.
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