THE JOURNAL · MONTHLY UPDATE · OCTOBER 2026
October 2026: what changed for psilocybin in Canada.
The month’s changes to the law, clinical trials, access routes and culture around psilocybin in Canada, each with its date, what it means in plain English, and the source we read.
October 2026 edition, updated to month end. Published · updated
Educational only, not legal or medical advice. These updates summarize public sources about psilocybin in Canada. Nothing here says what is lawful for you to do; for personal questions, speak with a regulated health care practitioner or a lawyer.
In short.
- The new Controlled Substances Regulations came into force on 1 October 2026. Psilocybin and psilocin stay controlled; nothing about this makes magic mushrooms legal.
- Health Canada updated its psilocybin page on 20 October 2026 so that its clinical-trials sentence names the new regulations. Its form for research exemptions no longer asks for the institution letter that the old Part J rules needed.
- A CAMH study in Toronto changed its registry status to recruiting, a St. Michael’s Hospital PTSD study stopped recruiting, and six other Toronto studies posted record updates. Two University of Calgary studies list October start dates but were still not recruiting on 30 October.
- The ROM extended its Psychedelics exhibition to 3 January 2027.
- Bill C-286 has still had only a first reading.
October 2026
Law and policy
Canada’s new Controlled Substances Regulations come into force
The regulations published in the Canada Gazette in December 2025 took effect on 1 October 2026. They list psilocin and psilocybin as restricted drugs and replace older rules, including Part J of the Food and Drug Regulations. Psilocybin is still in Schedule III of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, so possession, production and sale stay illegal without Health Canada authorization.
Sources: Controlled Substances Regulations, SOR/2025-242 (Canada Gazette, Part II, 17 December 2025); Ontario College of Pharmacists: New Controlled Substances Regulations now in effect · Are magic mushrooms legal in Canada?
Health Canada updates its psilocybin page to name the new regulations
Health Canada’s page on psilocybin and psilocin now says that, once a clinical trial is authorized, an authorization under the Controlled Substances Regulations is needed to allow psilocybin to be sold for clinical testing. That sentence used to point to Part J of the Food and Drug Regulations. The rest of the page reads as before: there are no approved psilocybin medicines, and production, sale and possession are illegal unless authorized.
Source: Health Canada: Psilocybin and psilocin (magic mushrooms), modified 20 October 2026 · Psilocybin-assisted therapy in Canada
October 2026
Clinical trials and research
From ClinicalTrials.gov, comparing our trial tracker’s registry data of 17 October with 26 October 2026, re-reading each record on 26 October and checking again on 30 October, when no Canadian psilocybin record had changed since 26 October. A record update means the study team changed its listing; the registry does not say what changed unless the status or a date did.
CAMH study of psilocybin for depression with alcohol use disorder now lists itself as recruiting
This phase 2 study at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto was “not yet recruiting” in the registry on 17 October and “recruiting” after its 26 October update. It tests psilocybin-assisted therapy in people who have both major depressive disorder and alcohol use disorder. Who can join is set by the study team, not by us.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07405606 · Psilocybin trial tracker for Canada
St. Michael’s Hospital PTSD study stops recruiting
This open-label phase 2 study by Unity Health Toronto pairs psilocybin with an intensive course of cognitive processing therapy for chronic PTSD. Its registry record listed it as recruiting when we read it on 4 October; since an update posted on 6 October it is listed as active, not recruiting, so it is not taking new participants. Our PTSD guide now says so.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06386003 · Psilocybin for PTSD: where the evidence stands
Five more Toronto studies update their registry records
CAMH’s pilot in autistic adults with treatment-resistant depression (26 October) lists 18 people enrolled and now expects to finish collecting its main results in January 2027 instead of December 2026. CAMH’s TRANSCEND study of chronic nerve pain with depression (21 October) and its SYNVEST brain-imaging study (19 October) are still recruiting. Two completed studies, Microdosing Psychedelics to Improve Mood (20 October) and CAMH’s pilot in mild cognitive impairment (5 October), have posted no results.
Sources: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06731621; ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06518720; ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06512220; ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05259943; ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06041152 · Psilocybin clinical trials in Toronto
Toronto PEARL study for people with advanced cancer updates its record
The University Health Network’s PEARL study, first posted on 15 September 2026, updated its registry record on 15 October. It is a randomized phase 2 study of psilocybin-assisted therapy for people with advanced cancer and is still listed as not yet recruiting.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07820033 · Psilocybin clinical trials in Toronto
Two University of Calgary studies list October 2026 start dates
One study of psilocybin-assisted therapy for PTSD in survivors of intimate partner violence (sites in Calgary and Kelowna) lists an estimated start of 1 October 2026. Another, for demoralization in advanced cancer (Calgary and Kingston), lists 30 October 2026. On 26 October both were still marked “not yet recruiting”, so their start dates are plans, not confirmed starts.
Sources: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06885996; ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07791901 · Psilocybin in Alberta: the law and the therapy rules
COMP360 PTSD study lists a recruiting site in North Vancouver
Compass Pathways’ “Redefine” study of its psilocybin product COMP360 in post-traumatic stress disorder started in September 2026 and lists one Canadian site, in North Vancouver, as recruiting; its record was updated on 23 October. The other sites are in the United States. It is a company-run study, and no psilocybin product is approved in Canada.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07570654 · COMP360 and the FDA: what it would mean for Canada
October 2026
Access: Special Access Program and section 56
The Special Access Program’s psilocybin class exemption folds into the new regulations
Since January 2022, a class exemption let pharmacists, hospitals and licensed dealers handle psilocybin when Health Canada’s Special Access Program (SAP) had authorized it for a patient. The new regulations’ impact analysis says that exemption is replaced: a licensed dealer may now supply a restricted drug to a practitioner who holds an SAP letter of authorization. The route itself, a practitioner asking Health Canada for one patient, is unchanged.
Sources: Controlled Substances Regulations, SOR/2025-242 (Canada Gazette, Part II, 17 December 2025); Health Canada: subsection 56(1) class exemption for psilocybin and MDMA under a Special Access Program authorization · The Special Access Program, explained
Health Canada’s research-exemption form drops an old Part J rule
Researchers who want to work with a controlled substance such as psilocybin can ask Health Canada for a section 56 exemption for scientific purposes. In May 2026 the application page said requests for substances in Part J of the Food and Drug Regulations must come with a supporting letter from the researcher’s institution; the version modified on 19 October no longer has that sentence. Part J covered restricted drugs such as psilocybin until the new regulations replaced it on 1 October; the page does not mention psilocybin or explain the change.
Sources: Health Canada: Application form for an exemption to use a controlled substance for scientific purposes, modified 19 October 2026; The same form as archived on 15 May 2026 (Wayback Machine) · Section 56 exemptions for psilocybin
Section 56 exemptions for patients and practitioners: no change found
Health Canada’s psilocybin page, updated on 20 October, still lists individual section 56(1) exemptions as one of three routes, after clinical trials and the SAP. As far as we could find, there is still no public decision on the practitioner-training requests that the Federal Court of Appeal sent back to the Minister in 2025.
Source: Health Canada: Psilocybin and psilocin (magic mushrooms), modified 20 October 2026 · Section 56 exemptions for psilocybin
October 2026
Culture and history
The ROM extends its Psychedelics exhibition to 3 January 2027
The Royal Ontario Museum’s page for Psychedelics: Art. Culture. Science. now gives 3 January 2027 as the last day, four weeks later than the 6 December 2026 in its opening release. The page still said 6 December on 21 October and showed the new date by 28 October; we found no ROM announcement. The ROM’s notice protecting two loaned objects from seizure still covers 6 June to 6 December 2026.
Sources: Royal Ontario Museum: Psychedelics: Art. Culture. Science.; The ROM exhibition page as archived on 21 October 2026, still giving 6 December (Wayback Machine); ROM news release: the exhibition opens; ROM: Foreign Cultural Objects Immunity From Seizure for Psychedelics · The ROM’s Psychedelics exhibition: a guide
October 2026
Also on Shroomverse this month
New educational pages we added in October 2026. Each one is sourced and dated.
Psilocybin law tracker
Where psilocybin stands in Canada, three provinces and other countries, each entry dated and sourced, with a world map.
Canadian psilocybin trial tracker
Every psilocybin study with a Canadian site on ClinicalTrials.gov, refreshed from the registry each day, with filters by status, province and condition.
Psilocybin timeline
Dated events in the history, science and law of psilocybin, each linked to the guide that sources it.
Species atlas
Mushroom species linked to psilocybin, with what chemistry papers did and did not find. It grew to 58 species on 25 October.
How psilocybin works
An interactive explainer, from the molecule to the brain in six steps, with every fact linked to its source.
Psychedelic Toronto walking tour
A self-guided walk through the city’s psychedelic history, from Yorkville to Queen West, with a route map.
The State of Psilocybin in Canada, 2026
Our annual report: the law, access routes, Special Access Program figures and Canadian research, with charts and a PDF.
Free pictures
Pictures of mushroom species and psychedelic history from the journal, free to reuse anywhere with credit under a CC BY 4.0 licence.
Magic mushroom quiz
Fifteen questions on María Sabina, Albert Hofmann, psilocin, the blue bruise, Canadian law and Toronto history. Every answer links the guide it comes from.
Web stories
Six short tap-through stories from the journal: psilocybin, the blue bruise, María Sabina, Toronto’s psychedelic history and the species atlas.
Psilocybin in Canada: key numbers
34 sourced figures, from how many Canadians use psychedelics to Special Access Program numbers, clinical trials and penalties.
Psilocybin studies library
63 published psilocybin studies, from 1998 to 2026, each summarized in plain English: depression, cancer distress, alcohol, smoking, OCD, PTSD and more.
Compare species side by side
Any two species in the atlas, side by side: who named each and when, the type specimens and every published psilocybin analysis. It is not an identification guide.
Still waiting
Checked, no change.
Things people often ask about that we checked this month and found unchanged.
- Bill C-286, a private member’s bill on psilocybin, has had a first reading only (16 June 2026). On 30 October 2026 LEGISinfo still showed no second reading and listed the bill as “Outside the Order of Precedence”, so it is not among the private members’ bills lined up for debate. Source: LEGISinfo: Bill C-286 (45th Parliament, 1st session) · Bill C-286 explained
- Health Canada still says there are no approved therapeutic products containing psilocybin, in Canada or elsewhere (page re-read on 30 October 2026). Source: Health Canada: Psilocybin and psilocin (magic mushrooms), modified 20 October 2026 · Law tracker: Canada
- No new federal regulations about psilocybin: the Canada Gazette, Part II issues of 7 and 21 October 2026 contain none. Source: Canada Gazette, Part II: 2026 issues · Law tracker: Canada
- We found no FDA decision on COMP360 in the sources we checked on 30 October 2026. Compass Pathways’ latest results release (5 August 2026) said it expected to finish its rolling U.S. application in the fourth quarter of 2026. A U.S. decision would not change Canadian law on its own. Source: Compass Pathways, second-quarter 2026 results release (SEC EDGAR, 5 August 2026) · COMP360 and the FDA