We are writing to you today as co-chairs of the Parliamentary Cannabis Caucus to request the inclusion of Canada’s cannabis sector in the federal government’s plan to address the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 13, 2020, Export Development Canada (EDC) and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) announced a joint strategy to provide additional liquidity for businesses, pledging to increase loans typically issued on commercial terms by $10 billion. Although the crown corporations have yet to detail how the new Business Credit Availability program will work, cannabis firms have been informed that they will not be eligible to participate. Dan Sutton, CEO of the B.C.-based cannabis producer Tantalus Labs, was told by a BDC senior account manager that “we do not do business with cannabis firms at this time.”
