Bulletin 23-02: Change to possession limit for cannabis beverages

Who's impacted

This change applies to the following licences: 

• Cannabis Retail Store
• Producer Retail Store 

What's changing

On December 2, 2022, Health Canada amended the Cannabis Act and its regulations to create a new class of cannabis – cannabis beverages – and set the equivalency at 570 grams of cannabis beverages to one gram of dried cannabis.  This change is meant to assist cannabis research efforts and to match public possession limits of other cannabis products.

Section 9 of the Cannabis Control Regulation (CCR) and section 2 of the Cannabis Licensing Regulation (CLR) have now also been amended to bring B.C.’s possession limits for cannabis beverages into alignment with the federal possession limits.

Licensees can also refer to the updates in Part 4, Division 4 of the Cannabis Retail Store (CRS) handbook and the Producer Retail Store (PRS) handbook. 

The change also ensures that B.C.’s possession limits remain in alignment following any future changes to possession limits in federal legislation.

Helpful information

• This change means that the personal possession limit for cannabis beverages is increasing from 2,100 grams (5 standard 355-ml cans) to 17,100 grams (48 standard 355 ml cans). 
• Personal possession of cannabis is still limited to 30 grams of dried cannabis or its "equivalent" at one time.  However, one gram of dried cannabis is now equivalent to 570 grams of cannabis beverages.
• For a list of cannabis products and possession limits , please reference the cannabis equivalency table in Part 4, Division 4 of the Cannabis Retail Store or Producer Retail Store licensee handbooks.