We represent and assist clients with a wide range of legal services within the Canadian cannabis industry. This fast-growing sector brings high-demand for changes that our lawyers are happy to help you navigate.

Our Expertise

Our cannabis team is comprised of lawyers with a broad range of knowledge in many different sectors impacted by the new cannabis laws. They understand the federal, provincial and municipal requirements that can affect your business, and monitor the changes and updates in licencing and regulations so they are prepared to help you with any matter you or your company may face. We provide our clients with cost-effective and responsive legal counsel on:

  • Regulatory and licensing requirements
  • Litigation/Coverage
  • Employment law and workplace issues
  • Leasing issues, including acquiring land or facilities for producing, selling or dispensing product
  • Contracts
  • Insurance and risk issues
  • Strata bylaws
  • Purchase and sale agreements
  • Real estate issues
  • Financings
  • Distribution
  • Environmental concerns
  • Administrative requirements

Industry Involvement

Beyond advising individuals and businesses, our cannabis team frequently publish topical and informative articles to ensure our clients remain in-the-know of the latest industry updates. They regularly write articles for legal journals and post on our Business Law Blog: businesslawblog.ahbl.ca. They speak to business groups and regularly attend seminars on a variety of cannabis-related topics.

Representative Matters

  • Successfully defended insurance brokerage relating to coverage issues and allegations of errors and omissions involving a licensed grower of medicinal marijuana: Schellenberg v. Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company, 2019 BCSC 196
  • Preparing the corporate structure and providing general legal counsel to producers, cultivators and distributors
  • Acting for a cultivator/distributor of cannabis plants and products, including listing on the Canadian Stock Exchange, private placement financings and acting as their general corporate finance and securities counsel in Canada
  • Preparing employment policies regarding cannabis use in the workplace for many types and sizes of companies and institutional clients
  • Working with strata management companies regarding drafting of bylaws and general advice regarding the current and pending cannabis legislation
  • Advising potential retailers of recreational cannabis on the provincial and municipal permit and application process
  • Securing a work permit application for executive position of a producer
  • Representing landlords managing existing dispensary tenants and pending recreational cannabis retailers
  • Acting for a pharmaceutical developer of cannabis products, including negotiating joint ventures and product development transactions

Networks + Affiliations

If you require advice on a jurisdiction outside of British Columbia or Ontario, we can call upon our networks and affiliations.

Through our membership in the ARC Group Canada Inc., we provide insurers and self-insured companies with insurance and risk-related legal services across Canada. This membership also includes an affiliation with Legalign Global, a network of four of the world’s leading insurance law firms. Through this network, we can respond directly and effectively to any global insurance claim.

Dispute Resolution

We have significant experience in resolving matters during the course litigation. We focus on structuring appropriate contractual approaches to dispute resolution and helping clients resolve disputes before they reach the court. We regularly conduct mediations and arbitrations and have extensive experience negotiating complex settlements in multi-party actions.

In addition, we have appeared at all levels of court in British Columbia, Ontario and in the Federal Court of Canada. We have conducted numerous Supreme Court trials, appeals and supreme court applications. Our experience and expertise enables us to determine the best approach to resolve our client’s cases and effectively execute that approach.