Psychedelics
What are they and what is their status in Canada?
Published: February 2026
Key Takeaways
- Regulation of psychedelics in Canada is complex and evolving.
- Research is expanding quickly with major trials in progress assessing psilocybin for cancer patients, substance use disorders, and mental health conditions.
- While some believe microdosing has benefits, concerns exist about potential unknown long-term effects, including possible cardiotoxicity.
- Indigenous communities have used psychedelics like ayahuasca and peyote for thousands of years in the Americas.
- Western psychedelic research started in the 1950s but was halted due to prohibition; it has recently gained renewed interest with modern clinical studies.
An Overview
Since not all information in the wellness media ecosystem is being delivered by trained clinicians or grounded in peer-reviewed science, it’s easy to get confused in the swirl about claims made about the safety and efficacy of psychedelic therapies. This document provides an overview of a complex and rapidly evolving field as it stands, in order to provide clear answers to common questions.
Some of this hope stems from the fact that several psychedelic substances are currently being investigated as treatments for everything from menopause symptoms to substance use disorders. The science is far from settled, though. Even though Indigenous communities have been stewarding this way of healing for millennia and western research into psychedelics began in the 1950s, hard and fast answers are still elusive.
What is it?
Psychedelic Therapies
The majority of Canadian researchers and clinicians working in the field of psychedelics and mental health today are focused on one of three modalities: standard high-dose psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, a lesser-known protocol called psycholytic therapy, and microdosing psychedelics.
Standard Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy—High Dose Therapy
Pioneered in Saskatchewan in the 1950s by clinicians experimenting with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) as a treatment for alcohol-use disorder, psychedelic-assisted therapy (PaT) was based on the idea that conventional talk therapy could be accelerated with a single dose of this powerful psychedelic.
Specific protocols vary but, although two therapists are usually present during the psychedelic experience, the real “work” is done beforehand, during the preparatory sessions and afterwards, during the integration sessions. The psychedelic experience is often considered more of a catalyst than the cure, itself.
Psycholytic Therapy—Lower-Dose Therapy
Psycholytic therapy was developed in England at roughly the same time as PaT and, in similar fashion, combined psychoanalysis with LSD. Instead of a single high-dose session, though, it typically calls for multiple sessions with lower doses of a psychedelic substance and, notably, the therapy takes place during the psychedelic experience.
Psycholytic means “mind-loosening,” indicating a milder version of the “peak” psychedelic experience many have with a full dose.
Microdosing—Non-Impairing Dose Therapy
Smaller doses still are used in “microdosing” protocols, which only began attracting researchers’ interest a decade or so ago. As the name suggests, people take extremely small doses of psychedelic drugs—not enough to feel impaired—on a semi-regular basis in the hopes that it will improve mood, general well-being, energy levels, and mitigate anxiety. Since it’s the most recent therapeutic approach of the three, there is less evidence to support its efficacy.
Psychedelic Substances (not comprehensive)
There are roughly 300 species of psilocybin mushrooms (fungi that contain the psychedelic compound, psilocybin) growing wild on every continent except Antarctica. When processed by the human body, psilocybin is turned into “psilocin,” which is responsible for the visions, hallucinations, time/space distortions, and euphoria that define the experience.
The terms Ayahuasca and Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) are sometimes (erroneously) used interchangeably, because DMT is often identified as the main psychoactive compound in ayahuasca—a brew of two (or more) plants from the Amazon rainforest that’s been used as a spiritual and traditional medicine in Indigenous communities in those regions for at least 3,500 years.
The combination of the plants is key to its healing and psychedelic properties, since the monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) inhibitors present in one of the plants essentially unlock the potency of DMT (from the other) when taken orally. While some have focused on extracting DMT for its therapeutic potential, other researchers suspect that ayahuasca is greater than the sum of its parts.
When Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD from ergot (another fungus) in 1938, he was hoping to create a drug to help boost circulatory and respiratory systems. Instead, as Hofmann discovered when he accidentally ingested some himself, he had created a potent psychoactive substance that would go on to play an important role in the development of psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Technically speaking, ketamine isn’t a “psychedelic” but, instead, a “dissociative anaesthetic” with psychoactive effects that is legally available by prescription. Ketamine research is focused on a range of things, notably chronic pain and major depressive disorder.
Does Health Canada Regulate Any of These Medicines?
In 1968, LSD and psilocybin were added to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) in Canada and, 14 years later, in 1982, the Supreme Court approved the criminalization of possession, production, or sale of the mushrooms, themselves.
With the exception of ketamine and “religious use” exemptions for ayahuasca and one specific source of mescaline (the peyote cactus), the substances commonly used in psychedelic-assisted therapy are all illegal and listed in the CDSA.
Although many patient advocates, clinicians, and researchers would like to see these substances become more accessible, regulating psychedelics has been challenging because they’re not typical drugs. First, these drugs are often considered adjuncts to therapy and their efficacy is tied to more than simply their chemical properties. Second, psychedelics have been used for spiritual, therapeutic, and recreational purposes, which gives them a unique drug profile. Many invested parties refer to the process of getting psychedelics approved and regulated as putting a “square peg in a round hole.”
Access: Legal Exemptions and Programs
At the time of this writing, psychedelics can only be obtained in one of three ways: A Section 56 exemption from Health Canada; through the Special Access Program or as a participant in a clinical trial.
Section 56
What is it? “Section 56 is a clause within our Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that allows the Minister of Health, or a top-ranking health official, to exempt any person or class of persons from any provisions of the (Controlled Drugs and Substances) Act,” explains Spencer Hawkswell, president and chief executive officer of TheraPsil, a psychedelic therapy and training organization with offices in both Toronto and Vancouver.
Hawkswell highlights that in August 2020, Minister of Health (2019–2021) Patty Hajdu made the earliest known use of Section 56 for psychedelics by granting four late-stage cancer patients access to psilocybin to help them cope with end-of-life distress.
Special Access Program
Another route to securing psychedelics for treatment is the Special Access Program, which has traditionally been used to get patients access to life-saving drugs that are not available in Canada.
To be granted special access, therapists or researchers present a case for access to Health Canada, which makes decisions on a case-by-case basis for patients with serious or life-threatening conditions that haven’t responded to available treatments.
Clinical Trials
The third pathway to accessing psychedelic therapy is to enroll in a clinical trial that tests the safety and efficacy of psychedelics. Health Canada allows investigators access to limited quantities of several promising drugs for research purposes.
However, becoming a participant in a trial is often easier said than done, since clinical research trials are typically focused on a drug’s efficacy for a very specific disorder and/or within a specific demographic.
Harm Reduction
While many clinicians and researchers are enthusiastic about the promise of these therapies, their hopes have received a big signal boost from social media, wellness podcasts, and seemingly endless documentaries on streaming services, some of which have portrayed psychedelics as a miracle cure and/or a panacea.
“With more and more people hearing about psychedelics in the media but finding them hard to access through the public healthcare system, people are trying it on their own,” says Dr. Emma Hapke, staff psychiatrist, University Health Network and associate director, UHN Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research. “My colleagues are seeing increased visits to the psych emergency rooms because of difficult experiences with psychedelics.”
Although a causal relationship has not been established, research from the ICES, The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa’s Department of Family Medicine, and Bruyère Health Research Institute, released in November 2024, did discover an association between individuals with emergency department visits involving hallucinogen use and a higher risk of developing schizophrenia.
Hapke says: “I think we need to do harm reduction for people to understand risks that might be involved, especially if they’re taking it on their own.”
Microdosing Harm Reduction
Although many people approach microdosing the same way they might take supplements, it can be more complicated than it appears.
“When people say ‘microdose’ they mean a very, very small dose,” says Rotem Petranker, director of the Canadian Centre for Psychedelic Science. “But what does that constitute exactly? We don’t know because there is no consistent definition.”
The most commonly microdosed psychedelic is likely psilocybin mushrooms. Petranker warns that microdosing this substance comes with unique challenges, because the psychoactive compound isn’t spread evenly throughout the flesh of the mushroom. “So, you and I could split the same mushroom, and I may have significant hallucinogenic effects while you remain completely sober,” says Petranker.
He also adds that, although there’s no empirical evidence to show that regular use of psilocybin causes cardiotoxicity, some researchers suspect it might be the case, so he cautions that people should be taking breaks between microdosing periods.
What’s Next? New research and trials in the psychedelic space
There are currently three major federally funded research projects investigating psilocybin underway in Canada.
- The University of Toronto and the University Health Network have partnered to work on a randomized control trial that explores psilocybin-assisted therapy as a tool for patients with advanced cancer to determine its effectiveness in helping people with end-of-life distress.
- A different University of Toronto/University Health Network team is working on a phase II clinical trial to compare the safety and efficacy of one versus two doses of psilocybin.
- Researchers at the University of Calgary are conducting a double-blind trial that will explore the efficacy of psilocybin-assisted therapy to reduce heavy drinking in patients with alcohol use disorder. The principal investigator is Dr. Leah Mayo, a human behavioural pharmacologist, and the university’s first research chair in psychedelics.
Where to find reliable information
Although there is plenty of misinformation to be found, it’s not that hard to access good information about psychedelics and mental health. A good starting point, says Dr. Dominique Morisano, clinical psychologist and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the University of Ottawa, is the website for a 2022 conference she co-founded, “From Research to Reality: Global Summit on Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Medicine.”
- Co-hosted by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, CAMH, and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, open access videos of all the presentations are all still available online.
- In addition, articles from the conference are collected in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
Dr. Morisano says there are many other reliable sources, including articles from credible magazines and newspapers such as The Atlantic and the New York Times, as well as these journals and associations listed below:
For Canada-specific information and Canadian research, you might look at:
- Psychedelic Medicine: A rapid review of therapeutic applications and implications for future research. Homewood Research Institute, 2022.
- The Canadian Public Health Association’s Discussion Document: Public Health Perspectives on the Future of Psychedelics.
- The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s FAQ on psychedelics.
- The Health Canada Guidelines on Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy 2024 have been nicely summarized by the B.C. Association of Clinical Counsellors.