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Blog · August 23, 2026
The COA is the document behind every figure on a package. What it reports for an edible product, what each section is confirming, and how a retailer should read one.
If the label is the summary, the certificate of analysis is the source. A COA is the laboratory record for one specific lot, and it is where the declared figures on a package come from. This article explains how one is structured and how to read it. It is general education about the document, not an offer of ours — we do not publish certificates of analysis.
The most important thing to understand is that a COA describes a lot, not a product line. There is no such thing as the certificate for a product — only the certificate for one production run, because the results are specific to that run.
Every certificate identifies the lot number, the licence holder, what was submitted, the date of analysis, and the laboratory that performed it. Analytical testing is carried out by laboratories licensed by Health Canada for that purpose.
For an edible the cannabinoid section is reported per unit as well as per package, because the unit is what a person actually consumes. For a product declared at 1 mg of THC per unit, this is the section that confirms the declaration is accurate.
This is also where the value of a measured format becomes visible on paper. A tight result against the declared figure is evidence that the formulation and the process are doing what they are supposed to do.
The larger part of any certificate is the part nobody markets: confirmation that the product does not contain what it should not. Depending on the product and applicable requirements this can include screening for pesticides, heavy metals, microbial contamination and mycotoxins, and — where extraction is involved — residual solvents.
These are reported as results against limits. A compliant product sits within the permitted limits across every one of them. It is unglamorous, and it is the substantive part of the document.
Check the lot number first and confirm it matches what is in front of you. Check the date of analysis. Confirm the per-unit cannabinoid figures against the label. Then read the screening sections and confirm everything is within limits.
If you range a product repeatedly, keep the certificates. Across several lots they tell you something a single certificate cannot: how consistent a producer actually is. That is a far better measure of a manufacturer than any individual result.
For our own products: we do not publish certificates of analysis, on this site or in our trade materials. Every lot is tested by a laboratory licensed for the purpose before it is released, and that record is held on file as part of our lot documentation. The figures printed on the package are what that testing produced.