Health Canada authorizing dried and fresh cannabis sales to licensees
Beginning April 19, 2022, existing holders of micro and standard cannabis licenses in Canada will be granted authorization to sell dried and fresh cannabis products. A notification went out to existing license holders at the end of March that this regulatory change will allow them to sell dried or fresh cannabis products to provincial wholesalers. Prior to this, a sales amendment was required to sell those products.
“Initial licensing came with sales conditions, and the amendment application process could take months,” said Justin Hearn, president and CEO of AirMed Canada Systems, “These changes are designed to reduce the regulatory burden for licensees and help them get their products to market more quickly. We expect this to be especially significant for our micro clients who want to carry out farmgate sales.”
Health Canada will automatically reissue licenses with amended conditions over the next three months. Those who had already applied for an amendment for dried and fresh cannabis sales will be prioritized in the process. Following the regulations, licensees will still need to submit a Notification of New Cannabis Product (NNCP) 60 days in advance of the sale of any new product.
This modification to the license program has been implemented as part of Health Canada’s efforts to improve the cannabis licensing process. According to the notification, “The decision is based on the lower risk associated with producing dried and fresh cannabis products.”
Note that the change applies only to dried and fresh cannabis products. Other products, such as edibles and vape cartridges, are not included in the sales amendment. Licensees planning to sell those products must still apply to Health Canada for a sales amendment.
“While these changes do not apply to the sale of extracts and edibles, it is certainly a step in the right direction,” said Hearn. “We expect edibles and extracts to play a significant role in cannabis sales in the future and have already added support in AirMed for these classes of cannabis.”
For more information about cannabis in Canada, visit: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health/campaigns/cannabis/industry.html
For information on how AirMed manages the sale of cannabis products for licensees, visit: https://airmedcloud.com/software/#sell
Market Researcher Says Canadian Cannabis Industry Exceeded $2.6 billion in 2020
According to BDSA, a market research firm specializing in the cannabis industry, global cannabis sales exceeded $21 billion in 2020. Based in Boulder, Colorado in the United States, BDSA made this announcement on March 5, 2021 in a blog post highlighting statistics from a market forecast.
The post noted, “Legal cannabis sales in Canada totaled an estimated $2.6 billion in 2020 and are forecast to grow to nearly $6.4 billion in 2026, a CAGR of 16%… During the year, BDSA Retail Sales Tracking data in Alberta and British Columbia showed rapid growth in shares of new Cannabis 2.0 product categories.”
The market research company also made predictions for the market into 2026. “Global cannabis sales reached nearly $21.3 billion in 2020, an increase of 48% over 2019 sales of $14.4 billion. BDSA forecasts global cannabis sales will grow from $21.3 billion in 2020 to $55.9 billion in 2026, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 17%. This growth is expected to be steady, roughly $6 billion annually.”
For more information visit:
https://blog.bdsa.com/cannabis-sales-in-2020
Quality Assurance in AirMed
AirMed provides licensed producers with a complete framework to establish and validate a quality assurance system.
The AirMed QA system is based on pre-defined North American and European pharmacopeia.
The system tracks testing results for the samples taken at any stage of production and enables shipping of samples to third-party QA labs. Results and certificate of analysis documents are logged and used to determine if the material the sample was derived from is acceptable for sale. Test results are verified by an authorized QA person and a passed or failed status is assigned to each data point. The QA results are maintained in the system and can be referenced at any point to review the values.
From reviewing non-conformance to documenting and communicating findings, AirMed helps you maintain your desired level of quality. Tracking attention to detail for every process gives you total confidence in your product.
For more information about quality assurance in AirMed, visit our Software page. You can also schedule a live preview of the software by clicking the Request Demo button at the top of the screen. Or give us a call at 1-877-313-2442.
New BC Cannabis Sales Programs Announced for 2022
September 30, 2020, Victoria, BC: The British Columbia provincial government announced new sales programs to benefit cannabis producers and Indigenous businesses.
A media release yesterday announced that cannabis producers in B.C. will have greater access to local retailers and consumers, thanks to new direct delivery and farm-gate sales programs that are in development by the Provincial government.
These changes come as a result of input and recommendations from long-time cannabis growers, Indigenous leaders and other stakeholders. The government is giving Health Canada-licensed small-scale producers, including nurseries, the option of delivering cannabis directly to licensed retailers.
“We’ve heard clearly how important these kinds of sales are for smaller cannabis producers trying to get a foothold in a market currently dominated by larger players,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “Now more than ever, our government is committed to supporting B.C. businesses and encouraging people to buy local, and that includes creating conditions for cannabis businesses of all sizes to succeed.”
The Province has also promised to develop a farm-gate sales program that will give cannabis growers in B.C. the option to sell their products from storefronts located at their production facilities.
The targeted launch for these new programs is 2022.
The BC Ministry of Attorney General’s Liquor Distribution Branch will also launch an Indigenous Shelf Space Program. This program, expected to start sometime in 2021, is designed to help consumers easily identify products from local Indigenous producers in BC Cannabis Stores.
“These steps will help grow the legal cannabis industry in B.C. in an inclusive way,” said David Eby, Attorney General. “By making it easier to know more about the product, those who choose to use cannabis can make careful decisions about what types of product they want to buy and what sectors of the industry they want to support.”
(Image / BC Liquor Distribution Branch)
The ‘highlighted’ products should be available at private B.C. cannabis retail locations, as well as through the government-run BC Cannabis Stores online site.
For more information contact:
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General
Media Relations
250 213-3602
New sales programs to benefit cannabis producers, Indigenous businesses | BC Gov News
AirMed Compliance Documents for Health Canada Cannabis License Applicants
The Cannabis Act requires that license applicants provide information on how they expect to meet certain compliance requirements.
We offer full support throughout your license application process and provide documentation that outlines how AirMed meets Health Canada requirements. If you plan to use AirMed for compliance after you are licensed, you submit the documents we supply as part of your application. We also partner with specialists in licensing applications and business management if you need more help.
For applicants who expect to use AirMed to help meet compliance, we provide two comprehensive documents designed for submission with license applications.
AirMed Record Keeping Compliance: This document provides an overview of how AirMed provides support to enable a licensed producer to be compliant with the record keeping & reporting requirements of the Cannabis Act and Regulations (CAR) and the former Canadian Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR). This document is intended to assist compliance auditors and internal compliance leaders in assessing readiness in relation to CAR requirements, as well as security and privacy standards.
AirMed Good Practices Compliance: This document provides an overview of how AirMed provides support to enable a licensed producer to be compliant with the good practices requirements of the Cannabis Act and Regulations (CAR).
For more information or to purchase our compliance documents, please call 1-877-313-2442 or email info@airmed.ca. You can also fill out the contact form in the footer.
For more information on how AirMed helps you meet compliance, visit our Compliance page or our Frequently Asked Questions page.
AirMed Ecosystem: Industrial tablets for your seed-to-sale business
AirMed recommends industrial tablets for use in your cannabis business. These ruggedized hand-held devices are waterproof and dust proof and can withstand a drop from five feet on a concrete floor. They have a built-in barcode scanner and camera and come loaded with Windows 10. The tablets feature a docking station with USB ports for printers, scales, keyboard, mouse and other peripherals.
When configured with AirMed Cloud software and attached to a printer and scale, tablets function as a self-contained workstation to carry out all process-related tasks. They can be integrated with barcode software to capture data throughout your operations. A tablet can serve as the computer for a specific work area such as a nursery or mother room, grow or drying room, laboratory, warehouse or loading dock.
These ruggedized industrial tablets are sold directly through AirMed Canada Systems Inc. and work with Windows applications. If you purchase a tablet through AirMed, it can be pre-configured with AirMed Cloud software as well as Winwedge software for barcode scanning.
These tablets are part of our new AirMed Ecosystem, which integrates AirMed with couriers, printers, scanners, ecommerce software and more. Our new AirMed Ecosystem lets you purchase hardware and software from us in a turn-key solution for your cannabis business. For more information visit our Partners page.
Each product selected for the AirMed Ecosystem is carefully chosen based on its ability to provide value, lower production costs and increase competitiveness for AirMed customers. You create the package that’s right for you from pre-configured hardware and software.
AirMed offers the tools you need in the office, the greenhouse and on the loading dock. Our Ecosystem lets you purchase hardware and software in a turn-key
seed-to-sale management solution.
To learn more about our Ecosystem program, visit: AirMed Ecosystem
To learn more about Winwedge software visit: TalTech
Introducing the AirMed Ecosystem
To help our clients cultivate success, AirMed is developing strategic partnerships with leading vendors of products and services in the Canadian cannabis industry. We’ve partnered with the best in the industry including compliance consultants, hardware manufacturers, telecommunications and delivery services.
The AirMed Ecosystem provides a turn-key solution with integrated hardware and software to help producers become more productive and profitable. From pathogen detection and environmental analytics through barcoding and label printing to ecommerce and delivery, the AirMed Ecosystem provides the best the industry has to offer for your cannabis business.
If you are a licensed producer or cultivator, visit our partnering page to find out more about what we offer and the awesome companies we’ve partnered with: AirMed Ecosystem
If you provide a complementary product or service in the cannabis industry and would like to collaborate with AirMed, click here for a form to request a conversation with a partnering representative: Partner Form
And if you’d like a product demo of AirMed software, call (877) 313-2442 or email info @ airmed.ca.
AirMed supports wholesaling to provincial distributors
AirMed Cloud seed-to-sale software supports wholesale selling and shipping from licensed producers to other LPs and from LPs to provincial distribution centres.
As a cannabis management system, our software offers full functionality for multi-level packaging with layered barcoding that meets GS-1 barcode standards. LPs using AirMed can assemble retail-ready individual product packages using a ‘master case’ system and identify and track products at each packaging level.
“Our master case processing lets you use layered barcoding for individual containers through to cases of multiple containers,” noted Justin Hearn, President and CEO of AirMed Canada Systems Inc. “AirMed’s track-and-trace system allows retail packages to be traced to the lot or batch and ultimately back to the original genetic material. And AirMed’s comprehensive multi-step recall process completely automates recalls if they are ever needed.”
AirMed software offers full SKU and barcode management that supports GS-1 barcoding standards. Pricing can be set at the package or master case SKU, and custom pricing can be set for specific SKUs by customer. The software offers features for creating and processing the orders as well as fulfilling and shipping them to provincial agencies.
“We’re proud to be supporting our customers with full master case inventory control, GS1 integration, comprehensive wholesale order management, efficient fulfillment and tracking, and compliance reporting,” said Hearn. “AirMed’s wholesale distribution module is helping LPs produce, prepare, sell and ship hundreds of thousands of products to the recreational market right across Canada.”
For more information on how AirMed helps your business, visit our Software page or our Frequently Asked Questions page. If you’d like to discuss your specific needs, please give us a call at 1-877-313-2442 or use one of the contact forms to start the ball rolling.
Take a look at our new interface!
A new version of AirMed Cloud seed-to-sale software was introduced at the Lift Expo this month in Vancouver.
AirMed is a cloud-based platform designed for licensed cannabis producers in Canada. The new version offers a more graphical interface and streamlined processes.
Originally designed to help licensed producers meet compliance, AirMed has evolved into a comprehensive business management solution for the Canadian cannabis industry.
“We’ve been developing AirMed since 2014, and no other seed-to-sale software offers the range of functionality we do,” said Justin Hearn, President and CEO of AirMed Canada Systems Inc. “AirMed keeps getting better, and this new interface is the icing on the cake. Not only does it look great, but this release streamlines many processes.”
From cultivation and processing through shipping and receiving, AirMed covers all aspects of cannabis business management, including auditing and compliance reporting. From the moment genetics enter your facility, AirMed helps you manage every stage of your business. At every step, processes with compliance implications are streamlined into easy repeatable workflows, capturing the required data as part of doing business. The software provides a complete framework to establish and validate a quality assurance system. From reviewing nonconformance to documenting and communicating findings, AirMed helps you maintain your desired level of quality.
In fact, AirMed is the only business solution you need to manage production, sale and delivery of cannabis while meeting government regulations.
To schedule an AirMed software demo, email info @ airmed.ca or call 1-877- 313-2442.