Health Canada ran 889 inspections under the Cannabis Act between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025, and issued 37 non-compliant inspection reports to licence holders. That's up from 21 the year before.
A Health Canada cannabis inspection is a scheduled or unannounced review of a licensed site, done on-site, by video, or both. Inspectors tour the facility, review records, may take samples, and rate each finding as minor, major or critical. The inspection then gets an overall rating of compliant or non-compliant. For any major or critical observation, the licence holder has 10 business days to submit a corrective and preventive action (CAPA) plan.
How a Health Canada cannabis inspection works
Inspectors get their authority from sections 85 and 86 of the Cannabis Act, and they assess compliance with both the Act and the Cannabis Regulations. Health Canada's own inspection guidance applies to micro-cultivation, nursery, standard cultivation, processing and medical sales licence holders.
Inspection types and volumes
Each type has a different trigger. Here's how the 889 inspections in fiscal 2024-2025 broke down:
| Inspection type | What triggers it | 2024-2025 count |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | Routine monitoring of licence holders | 437 |
| Targeted | Specific areas of the Act or Regulations | 101 |
| Compliance verification | Checking a specific compliance point | 128 |
| Personal and designated production | Medical-purpose registrations, not commercial LPs | 197 |
| Promotions | Promotion activities at licensed and unlicensed sites | 26 |
What happens on inspection day
A scheduled inspection starts with a call to your responsible person and, often, a request for documents in advance. On the day, the sequence usually runs like this:
- Introductory meeting: inspectors show their designation cards and confirm your licence, business model and product types.
- Site tour: they check room and equipment sanitation, look inside bins and totes, and interview staff about the work they're doing.
- Record review: SOPs, sanitation logs and production records, scoped to the inspection plan.
- Exit interview: inspectors read their observations aloud and give you the expected report date.
- Inspection report: delivered through the Cannabis Tracking and Licensing System (CTLS), with each observation tied to a specific section of the Act or Regulations.
Inspectors can also sample bulk dried flower, packaged product, or inputs like pest control products. If they find a critical item during the tour, they'll tell you immediately and expect action on the spot. Plan for that moment now, because a team that freezes during the tour turns a fixable finding into a non-compliant rating.
What the 2024-2025 inspection data shows
Health Canada published its 2024-2025 inspection data summary on September 4, 2025. Non-compliant reports rose from 21 in fiscal 2023-2024 to 37, a 76% jump in one year. Escalated actions that year included:
- 10 stop sales
- 2 warning letters
- 1 seizure and detention of products
- 1 destruction
Where licence holders actually fail
Read the non-compliant rows and a pattern appears. Few of them are about the plants. Most cite unsatisfactory retention of documents and information, not conducting activities as per their responsibilities, and good production practices (GPP). Several cite unauthorized storage or distribution of cannabis samples, insufficient security, or failure to disclose loss or theft.
The stop sales tell cultivators the most. At least two were triggered by unauthorized pest control products found on lots of dried cannabis. Another followed a lack of pesticide testing on plants sold to medical clients. That's why buyers now ask detailed questions about integrated pest management before they ask about potency.
Our view is simple: an LP that can't pull a sample-distribution record or a sanitation log within the inspection window isn't ready to export, whatever its COA says. Paperwork is where Canadian licence holders lose inspections.
How to respond to inspection observations
Every observation is rated by its risk to health and safety, or its risk of diversion or fraud. A critical observation is the most serious deviation from the Act or Regulations. A minor observation is a deviation that is neither major nor critical.
The overall rating depends on the number and severity of observations and your ability to demonstrate compliance during the visit. A compliant rating can still come with observations. In fact, most compliant rows in the 2024-2025 table list minor or major findings alongside a corrective actions required note.
The 10-business-day CAPA window
You must submit a CAPA plan through CTLS within 10 business days of receiving the report for every major and critical observation. Inspectors may extend that in extenuating cases, but don't plan around an extension.
Health Canada changed the rules on April 1, 2025. Licence holders no longer submit a CAPA plan for minor observations, though they still have to develop and implement one. The 2024-2025 data predates that change, so the 2025-2026 summary will be the first full year under the lighter reporting load. Expect inspectors to check whether those unsubmitted minor fixes actually happened.
The 4-part CAPA response Health Canada expects
- Root cause: explain why the observation happened, not just what went wrong.
- Correction: fix the specific deficiency the inspector cited.
- Prevention: check whether the same gap affects other SOPs, records or processes.
- Implementation date: give a firm date, with evidence such as a revised SOP attached.
If your first response falls short, inspectors issue a monitoring report and ask for a new plan. A final monitoring report closes the inspection. Our guides to deviation and CAPA management and GPP audit preparation cover the internal systems behind a clean response. The LPs that close inspections in one round are the ones that wrote the root-cause analysis before the inspector asked for it.
Why buyers check an LP's inspection record
Health Canada publishes every licence holder inspection by name. The annual table lists the inspection date and type, whether sampling was done, the observation severities, the overall rating, and any enforcement measure. The same data sits on Canada's Open Government Portal.
For a German importer or an Australian distributor, that's free due diligence. Before a first order, check three things:
- Any non-compliant rating in the last two fiscal years, and what it cited
- Repeated targeted inspections or compliance verifications at the same site
- Stop sales, seizures or warning letters attached to specific lots
Then ask the supplier for the final monitoring report on any major or critical finding. A Health Canada inspection is not an EU-GMP certification, and it doesn't replace one for the European medical channel. It does show whether a producer stays in control of its licensed activities year-round. Our guide on how to vet a Canadian cannabis LP covers the rest of the checklist.
AlphaLeaf is a Health Canada Licensed Producer operating an indoor facility in Montreal, growing hand-trimmed flower from refined genetics. Every batch carries ISO/IEC 17025 lab testing and full traceability. We hold export authorisation under the Cannabis Act, with documentation built for medical-channel importers in Germany, Australia and Israel.
Want to review our compliance documentation before your next tender? Contact our team. Ask for the records. We'll send them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often does Health Canada inspect cannabis licence holders?
Health Canada doesn't publish a fixed inspection cycle. It uses a risk-based approach and focuses on activities with the highest risk to public health and safety. In fiscal 2024-2025 it carried out 437 regular inspections, 101 targeted inspections and 128 compliance verifications.
Can a Health Canada cannabis inspection be unannounced?
Yes. An inspection may be scheduled or unannounced, and it can take place at the licensed site, by video, or both. For scheduled inspections, inspectors usually contact the responsible person first and may request documents in advance.
What is the difference between minor, major and critical observations?
Inspectors rate each observation by its risk to health and safety or its risk of diversion or fraud. A critical observation is the most serious deviation from the Cannabis Act or Cannabis Regulations. A minor observation is a deviation that is neither major nor critical.
How long does an LP have to respond to a Health Canada inspection report?
Licence holders have 10 business days from receiving the report to submit a CAPA plan through CTLS for each major and critical observation. Inspectors may grant an extension in extenuating cases. Since April 1, 2025, a CAPA plan for minor observations no longer needs to be submitted, but it must still be implemented.
Can an LP receive a compliant rating with observations?
Yes. A compliant rating means the licence holder met the applicable requirements and was in control of its regulated activities at the time of inspection, even if observations were noted. Most compliant inspections in the 2024-2025 data still required corrective actions.
Where can buyers find a Canadian LP's inspection results?
Health Canada publishes an annual Compliance and enforcement report: Cannabis inspection data summary that lists licence holders by name, with inspection type, observation severity, rating and enforcement measures. The same data is available on Canada's Open Government Portal.
