All companies in Canada who plan to cultivate (grow) cannabis must hold a federal Cultivation Licence. Licence holders can sell cannabis to other licenced cultivators or processors and authorized researchers. The Cultivation Licence is broken down into three sub-classes for cannabis:

• Standard Cultivation Licence
• Micro-Cultivation Licence
• Nursery Licence

The fourth sub-class, Industrial Hemp Licence, is for hemp growers where THC levels are below 0.3 percent.

Licensed cultivators are authorized to perform some or all of the following cultivation activities under Health Canada’s Cannabis Regulations:

• Sell and distribute dried cannabis, fresh cannabis, cannabis plants or seeds to other licence holders (cultivators, processors, analytical testers, researchers, cannabis drug licence holders), with the exception that dried cannabis or fresh cannabis cannot be sold to the holder of a nursery licence
• Sell and distribute cannabis plants or seeds to a licenced nursery
• Sell and distribute cannabis products that are plants or seeds to a licence holder that is authorized to sell cannabis for medical purposes or to a person authorized to sell cannabis under a provincial or territorial Act
• Send and deliver cannabis products that are plants or seeds to the purchaser at the request of a licence holder that is authorized to sell cannabis for medical purposes or to a  person authorized to sell cannabis under a provincial or territorial Act
• Conduct ancillary activities (e.g., drying, trimming, milling, etc.)

Outdoor vs. Indoor Cultivation Licences

Generally speaking, the same rules apply for licensed producers who want to grow indoors and outdoors. All growing areas:

• must be clearly marked and named
• must have security and video monitoring
• must not exceed their grow area limits (for example, 200 square metres for micro-cultivation licences)

However, outdoor growing areas do have some slight regulatory additions. For example, applications must include the longitude and latitude of all four corners of an outdoor growing area. Further, outdoor growing areas must include an indoor space, whether that space is used for growing or not. Learn more here: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-medication/cannabis/industry-licensees-applicants/licensing-summary/guide.html

For More Information About Cultivation Licences…

For more information about Cultivation Licences, please see Appendix B: Cannabis Licensing Application Guide

See list of cannabis cultivation licence holders in Canada