Tobacco local board can now distribute court-settlement funds to eligible tobacco producers without spending-cap limits

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

Two provisions that capped the local board's spending at $25,000 per transaction (without Commission approval) have been removed. In their place, a new rule explicitly permits the local board to use and distribute money it receives from a global tobacco-company settlement—administered under a court-appointed mediator and monitor process under Canada's Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act—directly to current or former licensed tobacco producers (or their successors and assigns). This change only applies to funds flowing from that specific settlement involving Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited, Imperial Tobacco Company Limited, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc., and JTI-Macdonald Corp. Producers who were or are licensed to grow tobacco in Ontario, and their successors or assigns, are the intended beneficiaries and should watch for distribution information from the local board.

Who this affects: licensed tobacco producers in Ontario · former licensed tobacco producers · successors and assigns of tobacco producers · the Ontario tobacco local board