Interest appears to be high for micro-licences. Vindica, a newly launched craft cannabis consultancy in the Toronto area, hasn’t even started marketing, yet co-founder Mathew Columbro has received between 30 and 40 calls through word of mouth in the last few weeks. Many are vegetable farmers looking to supplement revenues or black-market growers looking to go legal. In fact, one of the purposes of the micro-licences is to provide an avenue for illegal growers to join the legal market. While many illegal growers are keen to get into the legal system, it could be a tricky switch for some.
“These people have been making good money for a long time and doing it their way without having to follow any rules,” says Mr. Columbro. “That’s hard for a lot of people who have been operating a certain way. Now you have to tell them, ‘Here’s a book of rules that you have to follow.’”