Competition Bureau Gets Into The Weeds Of The Cannabis Act

The Cannabis Act¹ (the "Act") came into force in October 2018, creating a legal and highly regulated market for the production, import and export, distribution, and sale of recreational cannabis in Canada. Parliament passed the Act in response to the failure of traditional cannabis control mechanisms to protect youth and quench the profitability of the illegal cannabis market. Its passage marked a departure from the government's historical reliance on prohibitive measures to regulate cannabis use and positioned Canada as a global pioneer in this space.

Pursuant to section 151.1 of the Act, in September 2022 Health Canada launched a review of the legislation's early impact­­s on consumers, producers, and the public, which included a public consultation.² To support this review, the Competition Bureau conducted its own study and published a submission providing "evidence-based advice to inform the review and modernization" of Canada's cannabis policies.³ This