Advocates Say Indigenous Entrepreneurs In Canada Are Excluded By Cannabis Act
Only 0.5% of licensees in the country are located within reservations
Following an assessment of the country’s statistics, the Assembly of First Nations has extended a call to Canada’s federal government to remove regulatory barriers it says work to exclude Indigenous entrepreneurs from participation in the newly legal, ever-growing adult-use cannabis industry.
The advocacy group asserted this notion through its 2021 “Federal Priorities” document, alongside an interview with MJBizDaily.
The group shared data with MJBizDaily that shows Indigenous-owned or -affiliated cannabis businesses account for less than five percent of all federal license holders, which is approximately the same percentage of Canadian people who identify as Aboriginal people. However, the use of the term “affiliated” could also include any business with Indigenous investors, which means that the percentage of explicitly, Indigenous-owned businesses is likely lower than the five percent figure.
While Canada boasts 3,1000 reservations, only 0.5 percent of the approximately 750 total licensees in the country are located within these reservations. Of those license holders, about three-dozen identified as Indigenous-owned or -affiliated, according to Health Canada data.
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