Subsection 56(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act lets the Minister, on any terms the Minister considers necessary, exempt a person, a class of persons or a substance from all or part of the Act or its regulations, if in the Minister’s opinion the exemption “is necessary for a medical or scientific purpose or is otherwise in the public interest” (Justice Laws, s. 56). Subsection 56(2) bars medical exemptions for substances obtained in a way the Act does not authorize.
Health Canada calls the power discretionary and says each psilocybin request is considered case by case; it also says a request should include a letter of support from a medical practitioner (Health Canada, magic mushrooms). It adds that the Special Access Program and individual exemptions are not mechanisms to encourage early use of unapproved drugs.
Exemptions can cover one person or a whole class. Several class exemptions used to sit outside any regulation; the Controlled Substances Regulations, in force since 1 October 2026, incorporated six of them (Canada Gazette, SOR/2025-242). Health Canada also says there are no approved therapeutic products containing psilocybin in Canada or elsewhere, so an exemption is not an approval. Not legal advice.
General information, not legal advice.
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