Winnipeg-based cannabis producer Bonify has licence reinstated by Health Canada

Winnipeg-based cannabis producer Bonify has had its sales licence reinstated by Health Canada, after it was suspended in February over an investigation that revealed the company sold illegal product at stores in Saskatoon, Regina and Moose Jaw, the company announced Wednesday.

The third-party investigation into Bonify came after Health Canada recalled two of the producer's strains in December over contamination concerns about products sold in Saskatchewan.

That investigation was conducted by George Robinson, who at the time was the chief executive of RavenQuest Technologies Inc. and now serves as Bonify's chief executive officer.

Robinson's investigation found three former Bonify executives, who were dismissed in December, hired an outside agent to buy what turned out to be illegal product.

In December, a number of front-line staff tried to speak out about the 200 kilograms of unlicensed cannabis that arrived at its 320,000-square-foot Winnipeg production facility but were pressured to look the other way, he said.

One of the dismissed executives later filed a lawsuit alleging he had been wrongfully dismissed by the company.

Robinson called the licence reinstatement "a landmark moment" for the nascent legal cannabis industry in Canada, which he said has already faced several high-profile compliance challenges.

A spokesperson for Health Canada said the federal institution has suspended nine licences associated with six companies.

In 2014, it suspended licences from Broken Coast (formerly known as Greenleaf Medicinals Ltd.), ABcann Medicinals Inc. and Whistler Medical Marijuana Co. In 2018, it suspended one from Agrima Botanicals.

In 2019, Health Canada suspended one licence from Bonify Holdings Corporation, one from Evergreen Medicinal Supply Inc. and three from CannTrust Inc., one of which was for research purposes.

At least three of these licences are still suspended: two for Ontario-based CannTrust and one for British Columbia-based Evergreen, making Bonify the first company suspended since legalization to have a non-research licence reinstated.

The Health Canada spokesperson could not immediately say whether CannTrust's research licence had also been reinstated, because those licences aren't listed in the same place as ones for cultivators, processors and sellers.

Robinson said it took nearly 11 months for Bonify to get its licence back.

"It's a very hard process," he said. "You really have to go through now-predetermined steps to actually identify the areas [where there are issues] and then prove through development of your standard operating procedures, your quality control and your operational security plan to make sure they're all in alignment with what needs to happen."

Robinson did not elaborate on the investigation into the company.

"It was a deterioration of culture, potentially led by certain individuals. We'll leave it at that," said Robinson. "We had to reestablish that culture, working with the core team, the shareholders and the new senior management team there."

Robinson said the industry needs new leadership that focuses on doing business the right way.

"The lessons from Bonify are clear: follow the rules, train your staff and run a clean, well-designed facility capable of producing high-quality cannabis without cutting corners," he said.