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A surge in the number of cannabis producers coupled with a large number of site-amendment requests in preparation for Cannabis 2.0 have left Health Canada “overwhelmed” over the past year, and increasingly dependent upon information supplied “in good faith” by producers, according to former Health Canada inspectors and industry participants.

The department has been overwhelmed for quite some time, but it is not necessarily their fault former Health Canada inspector

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“The department has been overwhelmed for quite some time, but it is not necessarily their fault,” said a former Health Canada inspector who used to conduct inspections of licensed producers under the old Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes (ACMPR) system, as well as under the Cannabis Act, but who now works in the private sector.

“They are getting so many applications for amendments daily, that they are not able to conduct spot inspections on LPs as much as often as they used to, or the inspections are done very quickly,” he added.

Questions over the federal regulator’s role in monitoring cannabis producers come as licensed producer HEXO Corp. disclosed last week that cannabis had been cultivated in an unlicensed area of its Niagara, Ont., site, operated at the time by Newstrike Brands.