GLOSSARY · LAW AND ACCESS

Class exemption

Also called: subsection 56(1) class exemption

An exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act granted under section 56(1) to a whole group of people, such as practitioners or hospital pharmacists, rather than to one named person.

Section 56(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act lets the Minister of Health exempt “any person or class of persons” from the Act or its regulations for a medical or scientific purpose or in the public interest (Justice Laws, s. 56). A class exemption uses the second option: it covers everyone who fits a description.

One example concerned psilocybin. Health Canada issued a class exemption, effective 5 January 2022, letting practitioners, pharmacists, hospital staff and licensed dealers handle psilocybin or MDMA whose sale had been authorized through the Special Access Program. The page said it would be revoked when the Controlled Substances Regulations took effect on 1 October 2026 (Health Canada, class exemption).

The Canada Gazette explains why: certain activities had been authorized through class exemptions outside the regulations, which created confusion, so the new regulations incorporate six class exemptions into one set (Canada Gazette, SOR/2025-242). Individual exemptions for named people still exist. Not legal advice.

General information, not legal advice.

Sources

Last checked October 26, 2026.