We connect Budtenders, consumers, and brands to help shape the future of cannabis. Join the Community
We connect Budtenders, consumers, and brands to help shape the future of cannabis. Join the Community
Budtenders Association
Version 2.1 · Updated: 22 October 2026 · Effective: 11 November 2026
If you create an account, or accept these Terms when we ask you to, on or after 23 October, 2026 they apply to you from your acceptance.
1.1 These Terms & Conditions (these "Terms") are an agreement between you and Budtenders Association Inc. ("BTA", "we", "our", "us"), and govern your membership in, and use of, the BTA platform and community, including our websites, portals, surveys, educational programs, points and rewards program, and events (together, the "Platform"). BTA is a research and education community: members contribute survey, quiz, and engagement responses, and BTA produces aggregated, anonymized research and intelligence from them. Participation in research, as described in Section 7, is an integral part of membership and is what allows membership to be free. These Terms apply to the Platform under the Budtenders Association brand and under any current or future brand name of BTA or its affiliates, including any successor or rebranded platform identity.
1.2 You accept these Terms by checking the acceptance box at sign-up. For updates to these Terms, Section 18 explains how changes take effect and how we ask for your acceptance. Our Privacy Policy and, where applicable, our Master Contest and Giveaway Rules and event terms form part of your agreement with us and are incorporated by reference.
1.3 If you access analytics portals or intelligence products on behalf of a brand, licensed producer, agency, or other organization that has a separate written agreement with BTA, that agreement and its authorized-user terms govern that access, and these Terms govern everything else you do on the Platform.
2.1 Eligibility. You may join if you have reached the legal age for cannabis purchase in your province or territory of residence and you reside in Canada (or in another country we expressly open membership to). You must provide accurate information at sign-up and keep it up to date.
2.2 Categories. Membership categories include Consumers, Budtenders, Retail Managers, Retail Owners/Licensees, and such other categories as we introduce (each a "Member"). Benefits, features, and content may differ by category and by verification status.
2.3 Honest Profiles. Our community runs on trust, so we ask you to be honest about your professional role, employer, store affiliation, certifications, and any other status you claim on the Platform, whether or not we have verified it.
3.1 Verification. We may (but are not obliged to) verify any Member's age, identity, professional role, employment, or certifications, at sign-up or at any time, by any reasonable means, and may require supporting documentation. Access to certain features, categories, points, or benefits may depend on verification status. We may re-verify, and may adjust a Member's category or verified status, where information changes or cannot be confirmed.
3.2 One Account, Just Yours. Your account is personal to you — please keep it that way. One account per person, and no sharing your login with anyone else, including co-workers (shared logins muddy the research data everyone benefits from). Keep your credentials confidential and let us know promptly if you suspect unauthorized access; you are responsible for activity under your account until you do.
3.3 Your Account Is Yours. Your account belongs to you as an individual, not to your employer. Your store or company affiliation is profile information you can update if you change jobs; changing employers does not transfer your account.
4.1 Membership may include access to industry surveys and research, educational content and programs, community features, events and giveaways, and the ability to earn points and redeem rewards. Benefits vary by category and verification status, and we may add, modify, limit, or remove benefits from time to time. Material reductions to the Program as a whole will be handled as changes under Section 18.
5.1 Earning. You may earn points through activities we designate, such as completing surveys, participating in quizzes and educational content, referring new members, and engaging with Platform features. Point values, earning rules, weekly or other caps, and eligible activities are as displayed on the Platform and may change prospectively at any time.
5.2 Redeeming. Points may be redeemed for the reward entries, or benefits we make available. Points are a membership benefit rather than property: they have no cash value and can't be transferred, sold, or pooled between accounts. Redemption is subject to availability, and we may substitute rewards of comparable value.
5.3 Expiry. Points expire if your account has had no earning activity for six (6) consecutive months (this period does not run while your account is locked under Section 14.2) — we'll send a reminder to your account email before that happens. When your account closes for any reason, any remaining points expire and can't be restored or exchanged.
5.4 Corrections. We may correct points credited in error and reverse points connected to activity that breaks these Terms. Attempting to game the points system — for example through multiple accounts, automated activity, or made-up responses — can lead to loss of points and, in serious cases, closure of your account under Section 14.
5.5 Taxes. You are responsible for any tax consequences of rewards or prizes you receive, if applicable.
6.1 All contests, giveaways, and prize draws on the Platform are governed by our Master Contest and Giveaway Rules and the applicable Contest Summary, available at budtendersassociation.ca/contestrules. Every contest includes a free method of entry as described in those rules.
7.1 Research Contributions. Your survey responses are what power our research — here is how that works. When you complete surveys, quizzes, polls, ratings, or other research or engagement activities on the Platform, the responses and data you submit ("Research Contributions") become part of BTA's research dataset. Subject to our Privacy Policy and your rights under applicable privacy law, you assign to BTA all right, title, and interest you may have in your Research Contributions or, where such an assignment is not effective, you grant BTA a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable license to use, reproduce, analyze, adapt, and commercialize them. BTA may use Research Contributions to conduct research, build and improve the Platform, and create and commercialize aggregated, anonymized, and derived data products — such as indices, scores, insights, and industry reports — under any of its current or future brands. Research Contributions used in these products are anonymized and aggregated: our research outputs and data products never identify you or any individual member.
7.2 Derived Data. All aggregated, anonymized, and derived data, and all indices, scores, models, analyses, and reports created by or for BTA, are the exclusive property of BTA. Anonymized and aggregated data is retained and used after your account closes, as described in our Privacy Policy; it no longer identifies you. When your account closes, for any reason, we do not delete your Research Contributions: we anonymize them so they can no longer be linked to you, and keep them for long-term research, such as year-over-year trends. Responses you gave while your research consent was withdrawn are deleted rather than kept.
7.3 Member Content. If you post or submit content such as comments, photos, articles, or event submissions ("Member Content"), you keep ownership of it, and you grant BTA a worldwide, royalty-free, transferable license to host, display, reproduce, adapt, and moderate it in order to operate and promote the Platform. We will not use your identifiable Member Content in advertising or brand marketing materials without your separate consent. You are responsible for your Member Content and confirm you have the rights to post it. We may remove Member Content that violates these Terms.
7.4 Feedback. If you send us ideas, suggestions, or feedback about the Platform, we may use them without restriction or compensation, and anything we build as a result belongs to us.
7.5 Research Participation Is Part of Membership. Because our research is what funds free membership, holding an account includes your express consent — given separately at sign-up and recorded with these Terms — to the collection and use of your Research Contributions as described in this Section 7 and in our Privacy Policy. There is no version of membership without research participation. If you no longer want your future Research Contributions used, you may close your account at any time under Section 14.1; what happens to your information on closure is described in our Privacy Policy. Your identifiable responses are not used in any research output produced after your account closes; your past Research Contributions are kept only in anonymized form (Section 7.2).
8.1 Credential License. When you complete a BTA certification or educational program, we grant you a personal, non-transferable, revocable license to represent that you hold that credential, in the form and using the name and badge we designate, for as long as the credential remains valid and your account remains in good standing.
8.2 Protecting Your Credential. Your credential is valuable because it means something. To protect that for everyone who earns one, you agree not to: (a) claim a BTA credential you haven't earned or that has lapsed or been revoked; (b) misdescribe what a credential signifies; (c) allow an employer or anyone else to advertise BTA credentials that aren't held by identifiable current credential-holders; or (d) use BTA's or its affiliates' names, badges, or marks except as expressly permitted.
8.3 Standards, Revocation and Verification. We may set validity periods, renewal and continuing-education requirements, and standards for each credential, and may revoke a credential for misuse, misrepresentation, or breach of these Terms. When your membership ends or a credential is revoked, your right to represent that you hold the credential ends; you may continue to state, accurately, that you completed a program while a member, and you may ask us at any time to confirm, in writing, the programs you completed and credentials you earned while a member. We maintain the authoritative record of credential status and, by earning a credential, you consent to our confirming your credential status to third parties such as employers who ask to verify it.
9.1 This community is built on trust and good data. You agree to use the Platform lawfully and respectfully, and not to:
(a) impersonate any person, misrepresent your status (Section 2.3), or provide false information or documents;
(b) post content that is unlawful, hateful, harassing, or infringing, or that promotes cannabis in a manner contrary to applicable law;
(c) submit deliberately false or careless survey responses, or complete research activities on another person's behalf;
(d) use any robot, scraper, script, or automated means to access the Platform, or bulk-download, systematically extract, or compile Platform content or data;
(e) attempt to reverse-engineer, derive, or reconstruct BTA's methodologies, indices, scoring systems, or panel composition, or attempt to identify any other respondent;
(f) interfere with the Platform's security or operation, or access areas or data you are not authorized to access; or
(g) use the Platform to develop or support any product or service that competes with BTA.
9.2 At events, you must follow the event's posted policies and all applicable laws, including laws governing cannabis possession and consumption.
10.1 The Platform and everything on it that is not Member Content — including content, courses, software, design, data products, indices, scores, methodologies, and the names, logos, badges, and marks of BTA and its affiliates, under any current or future brand — belong to BTA or its licensors and are protected by intellectual property law. The Platform also embodies proprietary methodologies and scoring systems that are BTA's confidential information and trade secrets.
10.2 We grant you a personal, non-transferable license to access and use Platform content for your own personal, non-commercial membership purposes while you are a member. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right to use BTA's or its affiliates' names, marks, badges, or index names, except the credential rights in Section 8. You may not reproduce, redistribute, or commercially use Platform content without our written consent.
11.1 Events. Events may have their own terms, capacity limits, ticketing, and refund policies, presented at registration. Photography and filming may take place at events; consent for the use of your image is requested at event registration. If you have not provided that consent, tell event staff and we will take reasonable steps to avoid featuring you in our materials, and we will remove identifiable images of you from our marketing on request.
11.2 Sampling Programs. From time to time we may offer sampling programs or passes operated with third-party partners. Your base membership consent under Section 7 covers BTA's own research only: we do not provide your information — including pseudonymized information — to a sampling partner unless you expressly opt in when you activate a sampling pass. At activation, we will tell you what is shared, with whom, and for what purpose, and you must affirmatively accept before the pass activates. Declining a sampling opt-in has no effect on your membership. You can withdraw a sampling opt-in as described in our Privacy Policy.
12.1 Our collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not disclose your identity or contact information to brands or event partners unless you expressly opt in to communications from, or a program operated with, a specific company through the Platform.
13.1 The Platform may include content from brands, licensed producers, and other third parties, and links to third-party sites. Such content is informational; it is provided by the third party, which is responsible for it, and it is not an endorsement, recommendation, or inducement by BTA. We may remove third-party content at our discretion. Platform content, including educational content, is general information and is not medical, legal, or professional advice.
14.1 By You. You may close your account at any time through the Request Account Deletion option in your account settings or by emailing us at [email protected] — no questions asked. We acknowledge closure requests promptly and action them on the schedule in our Privacy Policy. Closing your account is also how you withdraw your consent to research participation (Section 7.5).
14.2 Pausing and Locking. We may temporarily pause an account while we look into suspected fraud, abuse, security issues, or a serious breach of these Terms. We will also lock your account if you previously withdrew a consent that a material update under Section 18 includes and you have not accepted that update within seven (7) days of the later of our notice and your first login after it. A locked account stays locked until you accept the update; while it is locked, your Research Contributions are not collected or used, and you may still close your account under Section 14.1. While your account is locked, your points do not expire. We do not lock an account only because its holder has not logged in since our notice.
14.3 By Us. We may end a membership: (a) immediately, with notice to your account email, for fraud, points abuse, credential misuse, multiple accounts, false information or responses, unlawful conduct, or conduct that harms other members or the integrity of our research; (b) for other breaches of these Terms, if the issue isn’t resolved within fifteen (15) days of our notice describing it; or (c) for inactivity: if your account has had no login or earning activity for twelve (12) consecutive months, we will deactivate it after notice to your account email, and deactivation closes the account as described in Section 14.4.
14.4 What Happens Next. When an account closes for any reason: access ends; remaining points expire (Section 5.3); credential representation rights end (Section 8.3), though you may still request written confirmation of programs completed and credentials earned; your personal information is handled as described in our Privacy Policy, including deletion or anonymization on the schedule stated there; your Research Contributions are anonymized rather than deleted and kept for long-term research, except responses given while your research consent was withdrawn, which are deleted (Section 7.2); your identifiable responses are not used in research outputs produced after closure; and anonymized and aggregated data, and Sections 7, 8.2, 10, and 15 through 20, continue to apply.
15.1 The Platform and its content are provided "as is" and "as available." To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, we disclaim all warranties, conditions, and representations not expressly stated in these Terms, including implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, and we do not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that content (including third-party content) is accurate or complete. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any warranty, condition, or right that applies to you under consumer protection legislation in your province and that cannot be excluded or limited by agreement.
16.1 To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law: (a) we are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages, or for lost profits or lost data, arising from your use of the Platform.
16.2 Section 16.1 does not apply to liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including under consumer protection legislation in your province, or to liability arising from our fraud or wilful misconduct.
17.1 We each stand behind our own actions. To the extent permitted by the consumer protection laws of your province, you agree to indemnify BTA and its directors, officers, employees, and contractors against third-party claims and reasonable resulting costs arising from your Member Content, misrepresentation of your status or credentials, or breach of Sections 8, 9, or 10.
18.1 We may update these Terms from time to time. If a change is material, we will give you at least fifteen (15) days' advance notice by email to your account address and by notice on the Platform, and the change will state its effective date. For changes that materially affect your rights — such as changes to Sections 7, 8, or 16, or a change of the contracting entity or platform brand — the notice will summarize what is changing, and the updated Terms apply from the stated effective date. If an updated version of these Terms includes a consent you previously withdrew, we will also ask you specifically and separately to accept it at your next login; until you accept, your earlier choice stands and the version of these Terms you last accepted continues to apply to you. Section 14.2 describes what happens if you don't accept within seven (7) days. If you do not agree to an updated version, you may close your account at any time under Section 14.1. For non-material updates, continuing to use the Platform after the stated effective date means you accept the updated Terms. Each version of these Terms is dated, and we keep a record of the version you accepted and when.
19.1 We may assign these Terms and our rights and obligations under them, in whole, in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, corporate reorganization, rebrand to a successor entity, change of control or management, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets or of the business to which these Terms relate. In any such transaction, your membership, your recorded consents, and your personal information transfer to the successor, and the successor is bound to use them only for the purposes described in these Terms and our Privacy Policy as they stood when you accepted them, until changed under Section 18. We will notify you of any such assignment or completed transaction. You may not assign these Terms.
20.1 These Terms, together with the documents incorporated by reference in Section 1.2, are the entire agreement between you and BTA about the Platform. If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary and the rest will remain in force. Our not enforcing a provision is not a waiver of it. These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable in Ontario, and disputes will be resolved in the courts of Ontario — except that nothing in this Section prevents you from bringing a claim in your local courts or through consumer protection processes where you have a right to do so that cannot be waived. Sections identified in Section 14.4 survive termination. Questions about these Terms: [email protected].