November 10, 2017 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance Canada
Announcement on Cannabis Excise Tax
Parliamentary secretaries Joël Lightbound (finance) and Bill Blair (justice and health) provide details on the government’s plan for an excise tax on the sale of cannabis at a press conference in Ottawa on November 10, 2017. The revenue from the proposed tax will be divided evenly between the federal government and the provinces and territories.
CPAC Today in Politics – Podcast - http://www.cpac.ca/en/programs/headline-politics/episodes/55042
The current approach to cannabis is not working, and the Government of Canada is committed to legalizing, regulating and restricting access to cannabis to keep it out of the hands of kids, and profits out of the hands of criminals.
In support of these goals and the broader legalization efforts, the Department of Finance Canada today published for consultation a proposed excise duty framework for cannabis products. The proposed level of taxation is intended to keep prices low to eliminate the black market, as discussed at the Finance Ministers Meeting last June. The proposed duty would apply to all cannabis products available for legal sale, including fresh and dried cannabis, cannabis oils, and seeds and seedlings for home cultivation.
The federal government believes that the combined rate of tax for cannabis flowering material contained in a final packaged product should not exceed $1.00 per gram, or 10 per cent of the producer's sale price of that product, whichever is higher, with this tax room divided equally between the province or territory and the federal government. Revenues raised from the taxation regime will help support investments in public education, enforcement, research and other activities integral to an effective system of legalization and regulation of cannabis.
In developing the proposed approach, the Government has paid careful attention to work done by the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation and the Parliamentary Budget Officer, as well as the experience of international jurisdictions which have successfully implemented legal access to recreational cannabis on the part of adults.
Interested individuals or organizations are invited to review the consultation document, the draft legislative and regulatory proposals, and the related explanatory notes at the links below. Written comments should be forwarded by December 7, 2017 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The federal framework is intended to be in place once legal cannabis for non-medical purposes becomes accessible for retail sale, no later than July 2018.
Alberta Health Services and University of Alberta, in association with MacEwan University are recruiting participants from Edmonton area for a cannabis study.
Researcher approached us for help and is quoted below:
“There is no pre-conceived agenda to this research. We are not against cannabis or its legalization.”
“would greatly speed up recruitment for our study, which means that our results would be available to the scientific/public spheres in a more timely fashion.”
“That is great! Thank you very much for your help.”
See attached poster for more details such as contact information, requirements and compensation payment.
