As cannabis and hemp opportunities increase in range and scale globally, innovation, commercial planning, product safety, and strong leadership become increasingly important for an organization's success. The resources a company invests in to understand the evolving nature of its business—from regulations and supply chain through to customer segments and brand/channel preferences—will drive changes in how, where, and why a company operates.

With the industry becoming more consumer- and patient-centric, generating insights and establishing a robust evidence base contributes to informed decision-making, product and service life-cycle management, brand leadership, market growth, enhanced knowledge of health outcomes, and sustainable economic development.

Our portfolio of work spans multiple sectors, including pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, food, beverage, personal care, agriculture, retail, and the public sector.

Key contacts for

Key contacts for market entry and commercial planning

Dale Hooper
Partner
dahooper@deloitte.ca

Janice Lam
Director
janilam@deloitte.ca

Maintaining ongoing operational compliance in accordance with the latest regulatory requirements is a critical success factor for cannabis organizations. Investing in this area can bring business benefits beyond their original purpose, such as identifying new processes, procedures, and increasing the output of quality products.

CCI Deloitte offers compliance assessments and support for standard operating procedures, new product development, preventive control plans, packaging and label reviews, mock recalls, and quality investigations, including inventory issues. Our ongoing support programs are customizable to your needs and scalable for micro and standard sites, with programs ranging from online managed projects to hourly and full-time on-site support.

In addition, our licensing services benefit clients regardless of the operational stage they’re in, from initiating facilities (standard or micro cultivation and processing, sale for medical purposes, nursery, R&D, retail, and industrial hemp) through to licence amendments, notifications, and support for regulatory.

Key contacts for

Key contacts for regulatory and compliance

Karina Lahnakoski
Partner
klahnakoski@deloitte.ca

Brenna Boonstra
Director
bboonstra@deloitte.ca

With rich experience in highly regulated industries (cannabis, pharmaceuticals, food safety, horticulture, and nutraceuticals), we can help you navigate challenging regulatory and operational areas to allow you to maximize your plans for international cannabis business growth.

We offer a range of services, including GACP and EU-GMP readiness and certification services, buyer/seller qualification services, quality-management system implementation, market entry and import/export services, cannabis distribution assessment, on-site and remote training, packaging and labelling support, cultivation and extraction planning, financial and merger and acquisition advisory, tax advisory, risk mitigation, medical cannabis market entry, CBD manufacturing, and much more.

Another notable feature of our practice is our comprehensive global market footprint. We have knowledge of and experience in numerous jurisdictions: New Zealand, Greece, Colombia, Europe, the United Kingdom, Germany, South Africa, Israel, Australia, Canada, Malta, and Portugal, among others.

Key contacts for

Key contacts for international consulting

Brennan Kerr
Senior Manager
brekerr@deloitte.ca

Janice Lam
Director
janilam@deloitte.ca

Our team of professionals bring cross-functional experience in heavy regulated and consumer product environments. CCI Deloitte can support your business through ramp-up, expansion, and maturity using our backgrounds in commercial horticulture, extraction and product formulation, security, quality assurance, and finance. Worldwide, our team has completed over 250 conceptual designs of various sizes and licence types in the cannabis and hemp industry—translating to over 10,000,000 ft² of design.

Completed engagements include facility design, equipment selection, cultivation and extraction program development, cultivation cost reduction strategies, batch-level costing, rolling commercial and operational plans, development of integrated key performance indicators (KPIs), inventory tracking and quality management software selection, and security infrastructure selection. Our team has worked with over 100 licence holders in Canada, and over 15 international engagements.

Key contacts for

Key contacts for operational advisory

Sid Hathiramani
Partner
shathiramani@deloitte.ca

Nico Haché
Director
nhache@deloitte.ca

CCI Deloitte's collective experience in the cannabis industry allows us to help our clients develop effective risk management programs, customized for their organizational needs—because every company is unique, with a varying level of risk tolerance, knowledge of external risks, strategies, and personnel.

Our fully tailored risk management programs can be built around specific elements, including operational risk assessments, compliance assessments, security risk assessments, gap assessments, supply chain risk management, quality risk management, and KPI reporting for the board. We also offer ongoing change management support.

Risk identification, ranking, mitigation, and ongoing monitoring are fundamental parts of an effective enterprise risk management (ERM) program. Our customized programs take all of these essential aspects into consideration when designing a plan that meets your organization's business objectives.

Key contacts for

Key contacts for risk management

Karina Lahnakoski
Partner
klahnakoski@deloitte.ca

Shaun McGowan
Senior Manager
shmcgowan@deloitte.ca

Recreational cannabis was legalized in Canada in October 2018, resulting in the creation of a brand new industry that includes more than 400 cultivators/processors, over 1,000 retailers across Canada, and tens of thousands of new jobs. However, hiring (and retaining) skilled employees has been one of the most pressing concerns in this nascent sector. Key challenges include its newness, heavy regulation, and leading practices that are still developing. All these create a very steep learning curve for employers, resulting in business continuity risk due to non-compliance with regulations and a potentially vulnerable operational workforce.

To help mitigate this risk, we offer a broad range of education and training solutions to make sure your specific needs are met. You can choose from our three main categories of learning (role-based, skill-based, or fully managed). Our catalogue of programs and courses are assembled modularly, giving you full flexibility of choice between an online, in person, blended hybrid, or entirely customized program. We have developed educational programs that will ensure all your workers—regardless of their level—are equipped with the latest industry knowledge required to succeed.

Key contacts for

Key contacts for workforce training and education

Shannon Kloet
Director
skloet@deloitte.ca

Christina Jopling
Manager
cjopling@deloitte.ca