CQA® certifications and information are available in the free CQA® app, with no in-app purchases, for any cannabis consumer who wants quality assurance when buying. The same information is also available at CQA® licensed cannabis retailers. For each certified product, you can see its independent lab results, tasting panel notes and DNA results, with comparative information that shows how it measures up against other certified products and reference cultivars.

The CQA® app

Scan the QR code or CQA® seal on the package to see the product's verification profile, before or after you buy:

•        Independent lab results for purity, potency and safety

•        Whether the flower is an authentic, true-to-type cultivar

•        Tasting panel notes on aroma and burn, and inspector notes on facility and handling

•        Certified products in stock at retailers near you

•        A personal tasting logbook to record impressions, write reviews and track your cultivar history

The CQA® seal

The CQA seal helps you quickly identify high-quality products. It is based on independent, anonymous lab testing and a sensory evaluation by a tasting panel of more than 50 members across Canada, who test unbranded products confidentially.

The tasting panel

Each taster rates a sample against set sensory criteria, using standardized protocols and CQA® equipment. CQA staff compile the individual reports into a Tasting Panel Report with a pass or fail grade.

DNA fingerprinting

CQA links lab and sensory results to DNA fingerprinting to find the patterns behind quality. Every tested sample is added to our DNA database and compared with reference cultivars. This reveals clones, close relatives and outliers, and can tell apart products that share a name but are not the same plant. In the CQA app, each certified product shows whether it is true to type and its family tree. The maps below show how cultivars relate: samples with similar DNA sit close together, and unrelated cultivars sit far apart.