Licensing of Industrial Hemp

Industrial hemp was licensed for cultivation in Canada in March of 1998 under licenses and authorizations issued by Health Canada.

The passage of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Actt (CDSA) in 1997 provided the legislative authority to allow the commercial production of hemp in Canada. The Industrial Hemp Regulations,

Licensing under Health Canada guidelines tightly controls industrial hemp production. All hemp in Canada must be grown from certified seed, licensed and be low in THC (delta - 9 - Tetrahydracannabinol). All varieties are testing well below the 0.03% maximum limit. Licensing requirements prohibit replanting of bin run seed by producers.

Hemp regulations are administered by Health Canada’s Office of Controlled Substances (OCS). Persons carrying out any activity involving hemp must be licensed. Possession of hemp plant parts or products without the appropriate license is a criminal offence. Exceptions to this are mature stalks without leaves, branches or flowers, and non-viable seeds.

A license is issued for one calendar year for: cultivating, importing, exporting, processing, distributing, possessing, plant breeding, analyzing, and sampling hemp.

License applications, guides and further details are available from the Office of Controlled Substances.

Producers applying for a license to cultivate hemp require the following:

• Industrial Hemp License Application
• Schedule 1 License to Cultivate Industrial Hemp
• Schedule 9 Authorization to Possess Industrial Hemp

All license applications can be found on at the Health Canada Website.

Along with an annual license, each year criminal check is required. These are available from your local RCMP detachment at a cost of $10.00.

Health Canada will not license cultivation of less than 10 acres, except in special circumstances. The location must be at least 1 km from school grounds or other places frequented by persons less than 18 years of age.

Growers must give the G.P.S. (Global Positioning System) coordinates of the location where they plan to grow hemp. This means that G.P.S. coordinates are required to define or outline the location - i.e. if the proposed field is rectangular in shape, coordinates for the four corners are required. "UTM" format is preferred to degrees-minutes format for recording the G.P.S. coordinates.

Contact Health Canada for detailed licensing requirements

Send completed license applications to:

Office of Controlled Substances
Head, Industrial Hemp Section
Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch
Address Locator #3502A
123 Slater Street, 2^nd Floor
Ottawa ON KlA lB9
E-mail: Health Canada

THC Sampling and Analysis

As part of the license requirements for growing hemp, producers must provide proof that their hemp crop has a THC level of less than 0.3 %. This is done by hiring the services of a person approved by Health Canada as a hemp sampler. A list of approved samplers is available from the Health Canada’s Office of Controlled Substance website)

The sampler must follow the Health Canada guidelines outlined in Guidance on Sampling and Analysis of delta-9 THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) in Hemp to collect samples, dry them and submit the samples to an approved laboratory for analysis.

The laboratory analysis determines the level of THC found in the crop sample and provides a report to the grower. The form for Reporting of Results of Delta-9 THC testing of Industrial Hemp Crop is also available from the Office of Controlled Substances website