Canada’s major producers of cannabis are urging the federal government to suspend the introduction of an $82-million levy on their revenues in the wake of Ontario’s decision to delay the opening of physical stores by nearly six months.
Health Canada proposed the creation in July of an “annual recovery fee” of 2.3 per cent on the revenues of licensed producers to recoup the costs of regulating the cannabis industry. However, just as the consultation period on the federal fee ended on Aug. 13, Ontario announced that it was postponing the opening of physical stores in the province from Oct. 17 of this year to April 1, 2019.
Health Canada is predicting it will eventually need to recoup more than $100-million a year from licensed producers to cover regulatory costs, but it remains unclear exactly how much revenue the licensed producers will earn and the exact level of the fee that should be levied on an annual basis.
Top photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
