Canada
Psilocybin is legal for medical use in Canada as of 17 Aug 2026. Special Access Programme, section 56 exemptions and clinical trials only; possession and sale outside those routes remain illegal.1
- Checked against 2 cited sources at this review.
1. What the law is
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, Schedule III: psilocin is item 11 and psilocybin item 12, along with any salt of either. Access runs through subsection 56(1) exemptions and through the Special Access Programme, opened to restricted drugs in January 2022 and tied to psilocybin by a subsection 56(1) class exemption. The Controlled Substances Regulations, SOR/2025-242, registered in the Canada Gazette Part II on 17 Dec 2025, come into force on 1 Oct 2026. They revoke that class exemption and write its authorizations into the regulations, which let a practitioner administer, sell or provide a restricted drug where the sale has been authorized under the Programme.1
Nobody in Canada buys psilocybin legally. A doctor asks for it, patient by patient, under an individual section 56 exemption or the Special Access Programme. On 1 Oct 2026 the class exemption behind the Programme is revoked, and the Controlled Substances Regulations take up its authorizations the same day, so the route runs on. Whether individual section 56 exemptions continue on the same basis after that date is not established in this record.
2. Pending legislation
Introduced but not yet law. If a bill passes, this record changes with it.
One psilocybin bill is before Parliament. C-286 (45th Parliament, first session), a private member's bill from Corey Tochor, would amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and the Food and Drugs Act to allow psilocin and psilocybin to be used for medical treatment under the Narcotic Control Regulations. It had first reading on 16 Jun 2026 and remains outside the Order of Precedence, so no debate is scheduled and bills at that stage seldom advance. In Toth v Canada (Mental Health and Addictions), 2025 FCA 119, the Federal Court of Appeal held on 26 Jun 2025 that Health Canada had unreasonably refused section 56 exemptions to TheraPsil and 73 healthcare practitioners. Those exemptions were sought so the practitioners could take psilocybin themselves, as experiential training to deliver psilocybin-assisted therapy. Patient access was not before the Court. It returned the requests to the Minister for redetermination without ordering the exemptions granted, and that reconsideration is outstanding.
3. History
The laws behind today’s status, when each took effect, and every review since, in order.
Medical use status takes effect.
Canada's medical access route was checked and left as it stood. Two things had moved around it during 2025: approvals slowed under a new government, and the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in June 2025 on exemptions for practitioners training to deliver the therapy.
Canada's record now carries a date it was missing: the exemption that links psilocybin to the Special Access Program is revoked on October 1, 2026, when new regulations take effect.
Canada's record said there were no bills before Parliament. There is one: C-286, a private member's bill introduced on 16 June 2026 that would allow psilocin and psilocybin to be used for medical treatment. It is not scheduled for debate, and the entry now says so.
Canada's entry now shows that the exemption connecting psilocybin to the Special Access Programme is revoked on 1 October 2026. The route is open until then.
Canada's entry now cites the regulation that actually carries the 1 October 2026 date, and corrects what it said would happen next. The exemption is being folded into new regulations rather than simply ending, so the Special Access Programme route is carried forward past that date.
4. Trials in Canada
Interventional psilocybin trials with at least one study site in Canada, drawn from ClinicalTrials.gov, EU CTIS, and ISRCTN. Registry data is reported by sponsors and shown as filed.
Recruiting, active, completed and closed add up to the 38 trials with a study site in Canada, as of Aug 2026. Closed covers trials terminated, suspended, withdrawn or left unverified.
ClinicalTrials.gov data courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
26 more trials on file for Canada.
The table above lists the first 12, recruiting first. The register opens on all 38 and narrows further by condition, status, and stage.
See all 38 Canada trials in the register
Condition Treatment Resistant Depression (6) · Major Depressive Disorder (4) · Chronic Pain (2) · Alcohol Use Disorder (2) · Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (2)
Phase Phase 1 (8) · Phase 2 (28) · Phase 3 (3) Status Recruiting (15) · Active, not recruiting (8) · Completed (5)
Registry records remain public on ClinicalTrials.gov and EU CTIS.
5. Common questions
Is psilocybin legal in Canada?
Psilocybin is legal for medical use in Canada as of 17 Aug 2026. Special Access Programme, section 56 exemptions and clinical trials only; possession and sale outside those routes remain illegal.
Magic mushroom dispensaries are open in Canadian cities. Are they legal?
No license to sell psilocybin has ever existed in Canada. Selling a Schedule III drug is trafficking under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act whether it happens behind a shop counter or anywhere else, which leaves the storefronts in Toronto and Vancouver running on police discretion.
Are magic mushrooms legal in Ontario, British Columbia, or any other province?
Drug control in Canada is federal, so the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act reads the same in Ontario, British Columbia, and every other province and territory, and no provincial or municipal decision can legalize a drug the federal schedule controls. The law does not change at a provincial border.
Can I legally get psilocybin therapy in Canada?
Access runs through a doctor, one patient at a time: a physician can request psilocybin for a specific patient under the Special Access Programme, open to restricted drugs since January 2022, or the patient can seek an individual section 56 exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Beyond those two routes the only lawful setting is a clinical trial, and nowhere in the process is there a clinic to book.
Is microdosing mushrooms legal in Canada?
Dose size counts for nothing under Schedule III, which treats a tenth of a gram of psilocybin exactly as it treats ten grams; no exemption exists for microdosing, and the capsules and gummies sold online as microdoses are ordinary illegal sales.
What is the penalty for possessing magic mushrooms in Canada?
Possession of psilocybin, a Schedule III drug, is a hybrid charge, meaning the Crown chooses how hard to press it. The lighter route, summary conviction, carries up to six months in prison, a $1,000 fine, or both for a first conviction, while indictment lifts the maximum to three years, and selling and growing sit under separate charges that reach ten years. Each number is a ceiling, and nothing in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act obliges a court to go that far.
When will magic mushrooms be legal in Canada?
Nothing on the calendar legalizes psilocybin. The one dated change ahead, on 1 Oct 2026, is administrative: the new Controlled Substances Regulations absorb the class exemption behind the Special Access Programme, and the medical route continues under new machinery. Parliament has one bill on the subject, C-286, which would open medical use under the Narcotic Control Regulations, but it had first reading in June 2026 and sits outside the Order of Precedence, where private members' bills rarely advance.
Are psilocybin spores and grow kits legal in Canada?
Schedule III names the compounds, psilocybin and psilocin, and spores contain neither, which is why the kits are sold openly. Cultivation is where the law arrives: the Act counts "cultivating, propagating or harvesting" anything the substance can be extracted from as producing it, and production of a Schedule III drug carries up to ten years.
Are magic mushrooms ("shrooms") legal in Canada?
"Magic mushrooms" and "shrooms" are common names for fungi that contain psilocybin. Psilocybin is legal for medical use in Canada as of 17 Aug 2026. Special Access Programme, section 56 exemptions and clinical trials only; possession and sale outside those routes remain illegal. Some laws control the compound and the fungus separately, so this record states the position for psilocybin in Canada.
Sources and confidence
Every status line is checked against the primary sources below. How each record is graded for confidence is set out in the methodology.
- 1.Canada Gazette.Canada Gazette (opens in new tab) · gazette.gc.ca
- 2.Justice Laws Website.Justice Laws Website (opens in new tab) · laws-lois.justice.gc.ca
Cited at the review
This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change frequently, and enforcement practice can differ from the letter of the law. Verify current status with local authorities before relying on this record.
Changes to this record
Every change we have made to this record, dated, corrections included. Nothing changes silently.
Canada's entry now cites the regulation that actually carries the 1 October 2026 date, and corrects what it said would happen next. The exemption is being folded into new regulations rather than simply ending, so the Special Access Programme route is carried forward past that date.
Canada's entry now shows that the exemption connecting psilocybin to the Special Access Programme is revoked on 1 October 2026. The route is open until then.
Canada's record said there were no bills before Parliament. There is one: C-286, a private member's bill introduced on 16 June 2026 that would allow psilocin and psilocybin to be used for medical treatment. It is not scheduled for debate, and the entry now says so.
Canada's record now carries a date it was missing: the exemption that links psilocybin to the Special Access Program is revoked on October 1, 2026, when new regulations take effect.
Canada's medical access route was checked and left as it stood. Two things had moved around it during 2025: approvals slowed under a new government, and the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in June 2025 on exemptions for practitioners training to deliver the therapy.
Canada: psilocybin legal status. The Psilocybin Record. Accession CA-001. Status as of 17 Aug 2026. https://psilocybinlegalization.com/record/canada
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