Health Canada will receive the bulk of the more than half-a-billion dollars the federal government has earmarked to get the recreational marijuana industry ready for its July 2018 legalization target, according to a breakdown of the funds provided by the department of finance.
Ottawa said in its fall economic statement last week that it would provide $526 million in new funding, spread out over five years, to Health Canada, the RCMP, the Canada Border Services Agency and Public Safety Canada, with an additional $20 million coming from existing or internal sources.
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Of the total, $432 million will be dedicated to Health Canada, $68 million to the Mounties, $40 million to the CBSA and $6 million to Public Safety, the finance department said.
The funding is “to ensure there is appropriate capacity to license, inspect and enforce all aspects of the proposed Cannabis Act (the legislation that would legalize recreational marijuana) and to undertake robust public education and awareness activities,” the update said.
“The implementation of a cost recovery scheme under the proposed Cannabis Act will reduce the overall fiscal profile of this initiative,” it added.
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