B.C.’s cannabis industry wants changes to how products are labelled

There are calls coming from B.C.’s cannabis industry to change the way products are labelled, saying there’s too much emphasis on THC.

There are calls coming from B.C.’s cannabis sector to change the way products are labelled.

Those in the industry say there’s too much emphasis on THC, the psycho-active component in cannabis, and that other qualities should be highlighted instead.

Orville Bovenschen, the president of Village Farms Canadian Cannabis and its subsidiary Pure Sunfarms, said its misleading to consumers, and that he’d like to see less of an emphasis on the potency of the product.

“I can guarantee you one thing: What’s actually on the label, is not what’s in the bag,” he said.

Bovenschen added, he’d like to see a THC range on the labels instead.

“You don’t buy a bottle of alcohol just because it’s 30 per cent alcohol,” he said. “If you buy a bottle of wine, you’re gonna look at the grapes, the region.”

THC levels vary

In July, Delta-based Pure Sunfarms, one of the largest cannabis producers in the country, published peer-reviewed research analyzing THC levels.

Gillian Vandermeirsch, the director of R&D and lab, at Pure Sunfarms, said the team found levels varied.

“It’s a natural product,” she said.

“It’s going to have variability and variation in the amount of THC, as much as we were seeing between three and seven per cent.”

Vandermeirsch said this work is about improving consumer safety, and compared it to how people consume alcohol.

“If you’re driving home, you might only have a glass or two,” she said.

“You really know how to control your dose. In our experience with cannabis, it’s a little bit trickier because the percentage isn’t exactly what’s in there, and so we want to move towards that idea of a range where it might be 25 to 30 per cent, and then the person knows that it could be as much as 30 per cent, or it could be a 25 per cent experience.”

Craft producers weigh in

Kevin Varner, the CEO and Founder of Royal Harvest Craft Cannabis, said he supports Health Canada moving away from solely focusing on THC in its labelling.

He said by emphasizing other qualities of the plant, it helps to increase consumer education.

“It just goes to show how much we can really teach consumers once we take away the stigma that it’s high THC that makes the plant,” he said.

“It’s a lot more. It’s the TAC, it’s the terpenes, it’s the entourage effect that you get.”

Varner added, he’d like to see labelling requirements be relaxed, to allow brands more control over their packaging.

“The industry, we’re very limited on what we can do,” he said.

“We’re not allowed put any glamour into what we do, any creativity, we’re not allowed to express ourselves.”

Changes made in March

In a statement to CTV News, Health Canada said that in March of 2025, the agency amended the Cannabis Regulations requirements,“to reduce regulatory burden and support diversity and competition in the legal cannabis market while maintaining the Cannabis Act’s public health and public safety objectives.”

The agency added that, previously, labels were required to show both the quantity or concentration of THC and CBD in the product as sold and after heating for activation.

Now, products are only required to display total THC and total CBD on the label, “information that is considered most relevant to consumers.”