Request to Health Canada to Improve the Process for Issuing Personal Medical Cannabis Licences - by Councillor Michael Thompson, seconded by Councillor Michael Ford

Neighbours and City staff were unaware that the production was occurring until interior air from the property began venting into the housing complex's driveway. Residents living on that side of the building were no longer able to open their windows because of the pungent odour. At my request, Municipal Licensing and Standards' Cannabis Enforcement Unit led an inspection of this location along with Toronto Fire Services, Toronto Building, and the Ontario Electrical Safety Authority. As a result of this inspection, ventilation was addressed through the installation of carbon filters, a zoning notice of violation was issued by Municipal Licensing and Standards, and an Order to Comply was issued by Toronto Building for a contravention under the Ontario Building Code Act. If Federal regulations covering personal use medical cannabis are not tightened, such situations will continue to emerge. Current Health Canada regulations do not require applicants to provide a zoning certificate confirming that facilities meet Zoning By-Law and setback requirements before licences are granted. In addition, the regulations under the Cannabis Act permit an exceptionally large number of plants to be grown at a single location. By presenting the City's concerns to Health Canada now, the City can get ahead of this problem before it gets out of hand.

ensure medical documents submitted to Health Canada for the purposes of growing medical cannabis are valid, including a mechanism to identify and validate documents that prescribe a particularly large amount of cannabis for medical purposes.