In 2015, Health Canada issued just five new cannabis cultivation licenses during the entire year. Last week, it issued just as many, bringing the year-to-date total to 13 and surpassing the 10 granted in 2016, with a total of 50 licenses having now been issued, all of which are available here.
The five newly named license holders alphabetically are Canveda, International Herbs Medical Marijuana (Zenabis), Northern Lights Marijuana Company (DOJA Cannabis), rTrees Producers Limited and Sundial Growers. Canveda was the only new Ontario-based LP, while International Herbs and Northern Lights are BC-based and rTrees and Sundial are based in Saskatchewan and Alberta, respectively. rTrees was acquired by Canopy Growth (TSX: WEED) (OTC: TWMJF) earlier this year. Northern Lights merged with Spirit Gold (TSXV: SG) earlier this year but has been halted from trading since February. Sundial is one of the named partners of Cannabis Wheaton (TSXV: CBW) (OTC: KWFLF).
The increase in the number of licenses follows a number of recent changes conveyed by Health Canada in late May. As Canada prepares for legalization for adults in 2018, the government is concerned about an adequate supply of cannabis.
