Medical cannabis has been legal in Canada since 2001, and the company that got the first-ever marijuana production license, Cannimed, recently got acquired by Aurora Cannabis. In the meantime, a bunch of other producers popped up and are now ready to sell. But which are the best?
This article will go in-depth into why you should definitely support the 3 big Canadian medical cannabis producers, but also why you should give a chance to some of the smaller companies with different styles and approaches to the whole industry.
So, from a user’s standpoint, what are the best cannabis producers in Canada?
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Get Started1. Broken Coast Cannabis
Broken Coast Cannabis is by far the best producer of medical marijuana, as so far I haven’t seen one negative review of their products.
BCC has a great offer for $5 on standard shipping and free shipping on all purchases over $150.
The company currently operates a custom-designed cultivation facility which was built with growing quality cannabis in mind.
If you are looking to avoid big corporate weed, this is the place to go to, as this company is basically the complete opposite of Canopy Growth.
BCC has an online store that also has a very easy sign-up system which is hard to miss.
Their prices are a bit on the stronger side though, seeing how they are a small producer when compared to the likes of Aurora and Canopy.
Users favor BCC as they have “the best selection of products and the fastest delivery time”.
Having that said, they still get 4 out 5 stars for delivery speed and wide product selection—Broken Coast always delivers a consistently high-quality product.
Broken Coast Cannabis is owned by Aphria so their standard of cheap production combined with BCC’s growing skill make for a very good combo.
2. MedReleaf
Aurora Cannabis is poised to reach greatness within the next few years and explode onto the international cannabis scene with the purchase of MedReleaf.
Since Aurora made deals all across the globe it can now finally start mass-producing quality cannabis.
MedReleaf has a rather large support and fan-base, which is due to the good product selection and product quality.
Users who have had the chance to talk to their customer care department say that the staff is down to earth and very patient-centric.
Last time I checked, MedReleaf had 5 high-CBD strains, which is more than just about any other licensed producer.
One thing dragging MedReleaf down is that they are a bit pricey, although you won’t regret paying a bit over the top for their products.
They have a wide range of products, from strains to crumble, oils and softgel capsules.
MedReleaf is one of the best medical marijuana producers in my opinion, which might be the reason it was sold for over $2.5 billion dollars.
I give MedReleaf 4.5/5 as I believe it’s a tight race between them and Broken Coast Cannabis, although MedReleaf has a bit better product selection.
3. Zenabis
Zenabis could quite easily top this list. They are an up-and-coming LP that is making a name for itself on multiple fronts.
Firstly, they have a great diversity of high-CBD, high-THC and balanced strains.
Their flowers are extremely sugary and most users have nothing but words of praise for the quality of their products.
Zenabis also offers compassionate pricing (20% off) and they give a pretty decent welcome package to all their new customers.
Users also report ordering their products around midnight and having their weed delivered next morning from across two provinces.
One thing that many users report is that Zenabis packs their cannabis in plastic boxes that hold only 5 grams.
Seeing how both a good product and quality service are a rarity in the LP business, Zenabis just might be that unicorn.
Another thing to bring you closer to Zenabis is the fact that they will be absorbing the excise tax.
That said, Zenabis comes in around the middle of the pack for pricing, with their lowest being $8.25 and highest being $9.50. They also offer a 15-gram, 3-strain combo pack which totals at $99 CAD.
4. VIVO Cannabis
Now, this company offers something a bit different.
VIVO (formerly known as ABcann) is not the everyday cannabis company that can provide you with the cheapest, fastest, and most quality service at the same time as they are still just relatively small time players in the industry.
This is in part due to their production process which is rather costly when compared to some other companies—especially Aphria which is focused on the biggest yields possible.
VIVO is known for its organic marijuana, which is exactly why you should give it a go. Their products aren’t just mass-produced weed, even though they make a lot of it.
If you decide to opt-into VIVO’s products you can expect a very high-quality product, which can take a bit longer to be delivered.
Customers are fond of their great customer service and they say that talking to anyone within their call center is a pleasure, however many have also mentioned a lack of product selection.
Their officials say that the company is working on lowering the costs of production in order to retain their users, as well as on improving their product selection.
If they succeed in both of those things, VIVO would be deserving of a clean 5-star rating, but until then they’ll have to be satisfied with a 4/5.
4.5 Canna Farms
Canna Farms is owned by VIVO, but I decided to give them a spot of their own, well not a spot, maybe a half spot.
Canna Farms was a family-owned medical marijuana producer working out of BC, and they were also the first licensed producer out of BC as well.
They source all of their supplies and raw materials from local businesses, which is another reason why you should try them out. By doing so you will directly help the community and local businesses.
Many users say that Canna Farms is on the cheaper side of the spectrum and that their customer support is really good. Shipping times are also good, according to many users.
Simply put, Canna Farms offers great tasting medical marijuana that is safe to use and that’s cheaper than many competitors.
Vivo made the purchase over the summer in 2018 for an astonishing $133 million CAD.
5. Tantalus Labs
Tantalus Labs is one of the premium-cannabis growers in British Columbia.
They have only 6 strains, two CBD-potent, two balanced, and two THC-rich strains. This is due to their small output as they have only around 150-200 plants per harvest.
However, Tantalus Labs is quickly building a reputation for having some of the best flowers on the market.
This company is truly a gem in the West, as they have a small, self-sustainable greenhouse operation which produces their sungrown cannabis.
They currently only have a license to sell cannabis flower, so no oils, concentrates and such, but I’m telling you—their flower is all you’ll need.
Tantalus places a high priority on the medical market, so you’ll never find yourself without their weed, while recreational users hoard it.
Aside from that, they also have a great staff and are trying hard to always deliver on time.
They also offer a virtual tour of their production facility which you can see here.
What are your favorite medical cannabis producers?
What are your favorite strains and oils from those producers, and why exactly are you so impressed with them?
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Alex Trpkovich
Experienced cannabis content creator, writing about the latest cannabis news, stock market updates and cannabis culture.
Darren May 13, 2018 at 7:07 am
Great story and on-site as this helps we with my industrial market research
Alex September 12, 2018 at 9:59 am
I'm glad you liked it Darren! Good luck.
Gary Endicott August 6, 2020 at 4:32 pm
Have you heard of lotus ventures? J
Keri Humphrey July 5, 2018 at 12:01 pm
Good morning, can you tell me if there is a licensed grower in or close to nova scotia
Alex July 9, 2018 at 9:17 am
Hi Keri, Nova Scotia does have 3 licensed producers: Aqualitas, Breathing Green Solutions and Highland Grow. They are all licensed for cultivation but not for sale so I am not 100% sure to what extent they are allowed to make business.
Josee September 2, 2018 at 2:24 pm
Hi Keri, thanks for this great article. Do you know where I can get a list of organic cannabis licensed producers in Canada? Or, ones who grow their product naturally, without using chemical pesticides and fertilizers? Thanks so much!
Alex September 3, 2018 at 8:41 am
Hi Josee, I'm glad you liked the article. Keri is another reader like yourself, so I doubt that she'll be answering you. As far as licensed producers go, most of them use some sort of chemical growing agents. If you are looking for strictly naturally grown flower, you will have the best chance of finding that in B.C. but even there some of the smaller growers use fertilizers to increase the yields. Your best chance would be growing some of your own weed, the way you want it to be grown. In October recreational cannabis will be legal so you'll have the right to grow 4 plants in your household. Best wishes and good luck!
Nathalie December 12, 2018 at 8:26 am
But you you wrote that Vivo is organically grown I know Canna farms is too and uses dry ice and water for extraction. Organigram too I believe and whistler also.
Jane November 4, 2018 at 3:50 pm
It would have been nice to mention that Aphria owns Broken Coast😀
Alex November 5, 2018 at 9:42 am
Yes, and Vivo (formerly ABcann) owns Canna Farms. I'll go do that now.
Alex November 5, 2018 at 9:50 am
I didn't know that up until recently. Also, VIVO (formerly ABcann) bought Canna Farms last day of August for $133 million!! Any way, I put that in the article now, so yeah thanks for reminding me :)
Joe January 13, 2020 at 1:56 am
Beacon is also owned by Vivi, you can order Beacon on the Canna Farms site but it is pretty expensive compared to other LPs
Tammy Vandergaag November 6, 2018 at 4:32 pm
Can you tell me the best place to buy cbd oil in Ontario is?
Alex November 6, 2018 at 4:49 pm
Probably somewhere in Toronto? Also, have you looked at the OCS store? You can order them online there, but you might have to wait a couple days or a whole week depending on how busy they are... I think they started sorting out the mess they had after legalization, so OCS should do the trick.
Alex November 12, 2018 at 3:29 pm
My name's Alex as well, lol! I also happen to be a freelance cannabis writer, so I pretty much do what you do. I use medical weed for epilepsy and I get it through CannTrust. I think they deserved a spot. They have a great selection and the most potent THC and CBD strains out of the dozens of LPs I've reviewed. Their Gold Kush is 27% THC and CT-CBD #1 is 20% CBD.
Alex November 13, 2018 at 9:28 am
Hi Alex, Alex here :D I don't know much about CT and I haven't heard a lot of praise for them, but I don't doubt that they may have an excellent product. I'll look them up and consider it. Thanks!
Chris December 3, 2018 at 3:47 pm
What is your opinion on Tiray out of Nanaimo? How does it rate?
Alex December 3, 2018 at 3:57 pm
They're not in the top 5 most definitely. If you're looking for BC growers I suggest Zenabis and Tantalus Labs.
Mike January 17, 2019 at 2:45 am
Do you know what are the top 5 ORGANIC growers which makes ORGANIC CBD Oil? Thank you,
Tim January 20, 2019 at 5:08 am
I agree with most of this but will say canntrust does definitely belong on the list. For proof they won most of the cannabis awards for best products etc. You can see this on their website. On a side note I am excited for TGODs product coming early next month. They produce only organkc and are competing to be the biggest organkc producer and by scale are the biggest funded and building.
Alex January 21, 2019 at 10:33 am
Oh for sure, I just made my list of top 5 producers in Canada, I'll admit to being a little objective haha
Jolene January 29, 2019 at 6:52 pm
Hi, a bit of a weird request but my friend is interested in naming a strain "North West Kush". How would one go about this business? Contact producers directly? do you know any producers who may be open to something like this?
Alex January 30, 2019 at 9:54 am
You gotta be the first to cross the new strain into existance. That's pretty hard considering there's over 14.000 different strains already. But, if you do manage to make a new cross and it's a killer cross, you give it a name, it starts spreading like wildfire due to it's potency and other qualities, and BOOM you got yourself a strain name. There's no trademarking process as far as I know.
Mia Kitteringham February 7, 2019 at 4:23 pm
Is Spectrum Canada an organic, pesticide-free producer? Thanks for your answer
Alex February 7, 2019 at 4:36 pm
I don't believe so. Nowhere on their website have I seen that they deny using pesticides or say that it is in fact organic so I highly doubt it. Maybe try The Green Organic Dutchman?
Tracy February 9, 2019 at 12:03 pm
I also love the fact that Tantalus uses sunlight and re-captured rain water in their growing regimen. More sustainable and enviro friendly. Thanks for this info!
Prez March 4, 2019 at 11:22 pm
Canntrust has high thc like gold kush but I had better of the street all there weed taste the same.spectrum no good by the time j got my weed it was bone dry with sticks in it.so far j haven't found any good lp plus it's so expensive
Eric March 21, 2019 at 10:54 pm
After filling out a registration with Canna Farms, I received numerous emails concerning sending my medical forms. In the same day, I was told I couldn't mail the forms, my doctor had to. Then the same day someone else told me I could. Then I was told I had to have my doctor fax them or mail them. Then I was told I could mail them. I finally told the forms back to my doctor and they faxed them. Has now been one week and nothing from Canna Farms and no response to my last email of last week. They give every indication that one person doesn't know what is going on there or what other people are doing. Nor do they give any indication they care about new customers. I have since moved on to another company who had me registered and a supply on its way in about 30 minutes.
Bee March 29, 2019 at 5:24 am
How can you tell who is a good supplier?
Aalok April 10, 2019 at 10:19 pm
Hi Alex! Can you suggest an outdoor 'organic' grower or dispensary in Ontario or any online platform which can deliver to Toronto which doesn't require a medical certificate? I don't understand why is 'organic' cannabis only provided to patients, it should be available to all. I just want to avoid pesticide, irradiated cannabis. Really appreciate your knowledge and time!
Alex April 12, 2019 at 12:59 pm
Currently nobody is growing legal outdoor organic cannabis. The closes you can get is maybe Whistler, TGOD or Tantalus Labs.
Aalok April 14, 2019 at 4:15 pm
Thank you, Alex! Go green! Peace :)
Aalok April 14, 2019 at 4:20 pm
Apart from companies you mentioned, I found these dispensaries growing organic cannabis too - 'DHO Medicinal' and 'Gold Buds' which do not ask for medical certificate. What do you think about these dispensaries? Are they trust-worthy? Thanks!
Alex April 15, 2019 at 8:43 am
I believe those are unlicensed recreational cannabis stores. Their trustworthiness depends on your level of skepticism and distrust in illegal growers.
Aalok April 15, 2019 at 3:00 pm
Okay. Thanks, Alex!
Mandla April 22, 2019 at 9:26 am
Hello. Is there a chance that any of these listed dispensaries could be planning on expanding?
Christina Furtado April 26, 2019 at 9:00 pm
Any recommendations for the best LP for CBD oils? i'm looking to buy only CBD oils. I'm currently with CannTrust (customer service has been hit and miss, kind of pricey but quality is wonderful of the oil) and Cannafarms (great customer service, cheaper CDB oil than CT but oil is a little too fragrant for my preference). Both have been pretty good but i'm hoping to try something new since my prescription renewal is expiring soon and i can choose new LP's. Any advice would be amazing. thank you!
Dwight April 29, 2019 at 9:34 pm
What about CannTrust, I am getting 2 grams from broken coast, and 2 grams from Spectrum, Spectrum is Done, your list is o.k. but why not bring up CannTrust, , med relief, I have looked into, 5 out of 10, Zenabis 3 out of 10, have a great day.
Kelly June 5, 2019 at 7:48 pm
I have only utilized Cannimed and just recently CannTrust for my medical. Cannimed had fabulous customer service and super shipping ( sometime 2.5 days,from order to door,B.C to NS!). I however felt that Cannimed had slim choices. So I opted to try another, CannTrust . Mistake. They seemed to have a good selection but when I received product their bottles leaked miserably through the cap , I lost almost half a bottled of CBD in my purse. Their caps are horrible for anyone with hand issues as well. Can’t get tops off ,and they leak like crazy 🤔 I reached out to CannTrust after spending 800$ on said order to discuss. I never heard back a week later, I therefore called again,as my 2nd order ( reluctantly but needed,due to it being leaked in purse) . The gentleman couldn’t tell me where my current order was , 7 days from Ontario to Nova Scotia and still waiting! I was told re my leaking bottles that I should 1-buy capsules 2- don’t travel with oil 3- wait two more days (9days total) for delivery of order Ontario to Nova Scotia. 4- $10 off my next order for losing half a bottle of Cbd and 20% of the bottle. Ten dollars ,why did they even bother.!? So super disappointed with CannTrust. I appreciate your article. I think I’ll start with your list and attempt to try them. I strongly encourage anyone to use Cannimed. I just wish they had more variety!
Melissa 420med June 8, 2019 at 6:56 pm
Hello I was a client of broken coast in 2016 and I never will be again as they lied about their product and they constantly sold shake and chopped leaf as flower "milled product" When tested it was never the percentage advertised and when a certain medication or strain didn't work for me all they were willing to do was discount my next order by $5. So for a sick person requiring a great deal of strong cannabis- I was now stuck with weak medication and had no way of making it through the next couple weeks as all funds had been spent on bunk being passed as medication. I would strongly advise against broken coast at all costs!!! Because of this particular LP I have yet to take my script of 10g per day to AnY LP as they're all theives and liars just out to make a profit not caring if it works for you or not. Sincerely Melissa 420med
Heather July 23, 2019 at 8:38 am
I’m having to again up my prescription so that I can purchase through more LPs. So frustrating. Added CannTrust but consistently out of their THC oil... Peace Naturals has low THC other than one strain(White Widow at 24.9 ml/mg) and is also often sold out. Added Aurora but their oil is pricey. After reading comments, crossing Broken Coast off my list. Wish you had more info on pricing. While it works great with the right strain, my opioids are coveted by my insurance. Cannabis is so damn expensive. It’s brutal trying to compare pricing while still factoring in other variables, quality.
Robbie December 28, 2019 at 12:51 pm
Redecan has great oil for a great price never seen them out of stock. Lots of choices I usually go for the 10;30. I split my script between WMMC and redecan. Whistler has amazing oil but god damn its expensive, can claim for taxes at end of the year but yeah. WMMC flower is by far the best quality
Ryan January 7, 2021 at 7:17 am
600 a month for weed or free pain pills. That is my choice too.
Ken Harman October 23, 2019 at 5:15 am
CannTrust is presently out of operation because of some legal, or should I say, illegal issue. I believe it is temporary, but who knows for how long.
Bev November 10, 2019 at 4:28 pm
I can not find a decent L.P. I have tried many but the quality s**ks. Gives me terrible conjestion in my throat and I do not use papers. Also it is almost impossible to find something with a thx count of 25+. And prices are crazy.
Colin Rossiter November 12, 2019 at 1:23 am
Other than medreleaf do any of these have companies have PIN numbers for their products?
Robbie December 28, 2019 at 12:57 pm
Idk why WMMC isn’t on this list this is just my opinion and when it comes to weed everyone’s opinion is valid so I’m not trying to say this list is wrong or anything but I’ve been a patient at broken coast as well as a couple other LPs, yeah broken coast is good but the terpenes are severely lacking barley coming over 1 percent overall, they have great “AAA” Whistler is expensive yes but their product is top notch, almost always “AAAA” (I apologize for using those terms I know they are annoying) I’ve seen a few strains with almost 5% terpenes and they consistently come In atleast over 2. The smell and cure and potency of their stuff is honestly really Impressive. I’m from maple ridge bc and we’ve been known for amazing weed for years it takes a lot to impress me but WMMC, Qwest (super expensive but amazing ) broken coast and FLOWR have all impressed me. The legal market is starting to get some really high quality stuff but until it adjusts the pricing and gets more “AAAA” MoMs will be taking a huge chunk from what could be tax money.
gab February 9, 2020 at 10:21 pm
broken coast? i don't think so. they don't even have CBD strains
Mariane E Yorga June 10, 2020 at 2:38 pm
I noticed no where in your article did you mention Tilray or Aphria. Were do these companies fall into quality of products. I will mention that I've been on medical products from these companies for years which was prescribed by a doctor who specializes in dealing with these products. if there is better I'd like to know as well as inform him which he is very approachable.
Gerry June 27, 2020 at 5:01 pm
I have noticed the online medical sales portals Like Aurora are refusing to give a percentage of THC or CBD. They now state a fairly wide range of percentages that you could end up with. They are required to label the package with actual percentages but you don't get to see that until it arrives so you are required to buy blind and hope you end up with a product that works for you. They also do not share the lab report for the product you are buying which is something the did before. It gets so you may as well buy from the black market as you have no clear indication what you are buying either way.