Serena and her husband Ian operate Because You Cann in addition to farming 4000 acres as a family business with their five adult children.
Serena and Sami discuss the challenges of operating a micro facility in Alberta and some ideas of how the situation can be improved to help businesses survive.
You can watch the full episode here.
For those who don’t have time to watch the full episode, here is a summary of some of the points discussed.
It’s great that we now have access to a wide variety of products. It feels safe to try new products.
Opportunities exist for collaborations and businesses to work together.
The application for AGLC license cost increased from $200 to $3000 since last year on top of licensing fees. They won’t let you sell your own product in your own store without buying it back through them.
We need LPs to look at bringing micros under their wing - it’s hard for micros to move product
Lots of amazing products are coming out of micros and need to get SKUs for their product. A lot of micros are sitting on a lot of product that they need to move.
We need collaboration with different companies to raise the whole industry.
As a micro-cultivator, you have to be willing to work with multiple partners.
Collaborations make sense - right now micros are all trying to do everything and it’s not sustainable. If someone can help with distribution, micros can focus on growing.
Consumers don’t know the challenges cultivators face. We need to find a way to get them to ask for micro product. Budtenders need to know as well and should promote local products.
Some companies have great information posters - but we need support from the government in making sure they get seen instead of forcing them to be taken down.
Different people respond to cannabis in different ways - some people get sleepy with sativas. We need to be able to talk about it, but we aren’t allowed to explain with informational posters.
Undercover AGLC Inspectors are a thing.
Excise tax should be removed from medical sales - we shouldn't be taxed on medicine, and it’s the only industry where that’s the case.
Every province is different for taxes and excise rates - this should be standardized.
Alberta is among the highest taxed provinces - it stops some cultivators from coming to market.
Taxes on cannabis buildings used to be covered under agricultural buildings and not taxed, but that has been removed and now they are taxed. Every level wants to tax cannabis and it’s not sustainable.
Health Canada and the CRA aren’t always helpful - sometimes they aren’t very forgiving for small mistakes. They aren’t always consistent in what they request.
Don’t be afraid of Health Canada and the CRA - they aren’t always right, and sometimes it’s worth talking to a supervisor.
Some auditors have no experience in the cannabis industry.
This article was written in tandem with Mike F.