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← Back to Law ExplorerLast verified: June 2026 · Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca
Drug Offences (CDSA)Indictable
CDSA-7

Production of Substance

Production of substance

Drug Offences
Maximum Sentence

Life imprisonment (Schedule I) / 14 years (Schedule II)

Classification: Indictable
🍁 Immigration Impact

Drug production is serious criminality under IRPA s.36(1). Carries life imprisonment for Schedule I substances. Also potentially triggers organized criminality inadmissibility under IRPA s.37.

🍁 In Simple Terms

Making controlled drugs, including growing or cooking them. Schedule I production carries life and Schedule II carries 14 years, both serious criminality. A grow operation or a lab also invites a look at the organized crime ground, a separate reason a person can be turned away.

Legal Text, CDSA s. CDSA-7

(1) Except as authorized under the regulations, no person shall produce a substance included in Schedule I, II, III, IV or V. (2) Every person who contravenes subsection (1) (a) if the subject matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule I or II, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life; (a.1) [Repealed, 2022, c. 15, s. 17] (b) [Repealed, 2018, c. 16, s. 197] (c) if the subject matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule III or V, (i) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or (ii) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding eighteen months; and (d) where the subject-matter of the offence is a substance included in Schedule IV, (i) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or (ii) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year. (3) [Repealed, 2022, c. 15, s. 17]

Amendment History (5)
1996, c. 19, s. 7
2012, c. 1, s. 41
2017, c. 7, s. 5
2018, c. 16, s. 197
2022, c. 15, s. 17
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