Whether you’re into applied science, want to specialize in cultivation, or simply want to learn more about your favorite plant, there are a variety of cannabis-focused post-secondary programs and courses offered across Canada.
From BC to the Maritimes, specialized cannabis education and training opportunities abound, with programs in quality assurance, science, management and more. If you’re thinking about going back to school this fall, it’s not too late to apply.
Here are all the updated cannabis programs we can find at post-secondary institutions across Canada. While many of the programs offered in 2018 don’t have current start dates, there are still more than a dozen to choose from.
British Columbia
Okanagan College
Through its online learning platform, Okanagan College offers several different cannabis training courses on regulatory policies, business opportunities and more.
Courses include Seed to Harvest: Cannabis Botany and Plant Science, Cannabis Marketing in Canada, Cannabis Legislation and Quality Assurance, and Medical Cannabis Fundamentals for Health Professionals, among others. Start dates vary, but many courses start in autumn 2022.
Selkirk College
On a few different campuses in the Kootenays, Selkirk College offers a handful of cannabis courses for those looking to expand their knowledge of the plant and different ways to use it.
Introduction to Medical Cannabis offers start dates in November 2022 and February 2023, while Cannabis Compliance begins in September 2022 and promises students a hands-on look at licensing categories and the application process.
Other more hands-on courses offer students the opportunity to learn how to make cannabis salve, infused drinks or CBD oil.
College of the Rockies
Available online, the lone course College of the Rockies currently offers online is quite specific: It provides participants with information about cannabis in the workplace and takes a close look at the issue of disability. At the end of the course, participants receive a Red Cross certificate.
Alberta
Mount Royal University
Three online cannabis education courses offered by Mount Royal University have start dates this September, including one on quality assurance, another on commercial cannabis production and a third on retail marketing. Their fourth course on retail cannabis management will be offered for the first time this October.
Olds College
Olds College offers a series of online continuing education courses focused on cannabis, with two to be offered in the fall of 2022. Extraction and Purification for the Cannabis/Hemp Industry will teach students about extraction of cannabis oil, with a focus on CO2 extraction. The university also offers a course on quality assurance.
Norquest College
Edmonton’s Norquest College offers online and in-person courses, including a cannabis cutting and production course and a hemp processing and products course. Healthcare professionals interested in learning more about the medical applications of cannabis can sign up for an introductory course starting in October.
Academy of Higher Learning
This educational institution offers a four-month virtual cannabis and health specialist diploma program, with a curriculum covering history, the cannabis plant, the endocannabinoid system, cannabis law and more, starting in October .
Saskatchewan
University of Saskatchewan
The University of Saskatchewan Prairie Horticulture Certificate now includes a Cannabis Crop Production course, covering propagation, genetics and harvesting criteria, among other valuable skills in the pot. All courses, assignments and exams are online.
Manitoba
College of the Red River
Following the federal legalization of cannabis in 2018, Red River College Polytechnic offered a Cannabis 101 course covering cannabis policy, botany and plant genetics, commercial industry and medicinal use. The course is not currently offered to students.
Assiniboine Community College
While not currently accepting new students, Assiniboine Community College has partnered with Durham College on a cannabis industry specialization microprogram for students to learn industry fundamentals such as production management, product testing and follow-up.
Ontario
College of Niagara
A one-year commercial cannabis production program is offered at Niagara College’s Niagara-on-the-Lake campus, where students take courses in cultivation methods, cannabis biology and evolution, plant pathology, business software applications and much more. The certificate program is currently accepting applications for September intake.
loyal school
Loyalist College in Belleville offers a one-year Cannabis Applied Science Certificate program that helps students learn about product development, process optimization, product quality and safety.
If you are interested in becoming a formulation chemist, processing technician or quality assurance manager, this could be the program for you. It starts this September.
Durham College
As part of its cannabis industry specialization programme, Durham College offers a range of nine courses including Cannabis Ethics and Law, Medical Cannabis Fundamentals for Business Professionals and Cannabis Import and Export. All courses are offered online and the program can be completed in one year.
Seneca College
Through Seneca College’s Cannabis Industry Studies certificate program, offered online, students take core courses in cannabis fundamentals, law and ethics, and health and wellness, and can take elective courses in retail and wholesale operations, human resources and healthcare. Interested students can learn more about the program at an online information session on September 6.
NACPT (North American College of Pharmaceutical Technology) Pharma College
NACPT offers a variety of cannabis-focused courses and programs, including a nine-month Industrial Cannabis Production Technology Program and a nine-month Quality Control and Quality Assurance Program, as well as Master Grower Practice courses and modern mining practices. Start dates range, with some as late as August.
College AAPS (Academy of Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences).
AAPS, the Ontario-based career college, offers a four-month certificate program in cannabis operations, quality and edibles that includes courses in regulations, cultivation techniques, plant sanitation, clinical concepts and retail management, among others The entire program is offered online.
Fanshawe College
Fanshawe’s 30-week cannabis applied science program, offered at the university’s London campus, includes courses in laboratory techniques in analytical chemistry, cannabis chemistry, microbiology and science communications. Interested students can apply for September 2022 or January 2023 enrollment.
Centenary College
Centennial College in Scarborough offers different levels of education for those who want to better understand cannabis cultivation. A three-week “micro-credential” course called Home Cannabis Cultivation provides an introduction, while the Cannabis Cultivation and Processing program goes deeper, with six part-time courses on regulations, theory and product formulation.
Quebec
McGill University
Unfortunately, McGill no longer offers its diploma in commercial cannabis, which covered plant science and genetics, product design, ethics and an industry internship program.
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Community College
Nova Scotia Community College’s cannabis cultivation certificate program, offered in person at its Kingstec campus in Kentville, includes courses in commercial cultivation practices, horticulture, quality assurance and industry relations. Although their next session starts in September, there is currently a waiting list to sign up.
Newfoundland
Canadian Academy
Although not specific to cannabis, the Canadian Academy’s newest diploma program in greenhouse production is worth adding to this list. Licensed grower Atlantic Cultivation has even endorsed the show.
Other institutions that have offered cannabis courses and educational programming in the past but are not currently enrolling students include Coast Mountain College and Kwantlen Polytechnic University in BC, Assiniboine Community College in Manitoba, McMaster University and Collège Boréal in Ontario, and McGill University in Quebec . .
Do you want to see your institution’s course in this list? Email our editor ashleykeenan@leafly.com.
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