Canada’s cannabis industry reached over $4 billion in 2021

Medical cannabis was legalized in 2001, when authorized patients were able to obtain a license to grow cannabis at home.

On April 1, 2014 new regulations came into effect, the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) replaced the previous Marijuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR). Canada had a set up a licensing scheme whereby authorized producers produce and sell dried and fresh cannabis flower, and cannabis oil, to patients with the appropriate medical documentation.

Canada’s senate has voted 56-30 on 7th of June 2018 to legalize recreational cannabis, clearing a major hurdle as the country moves towards becoming the first in the G7 to fully legalize cannabis.

The federal government legalized recreational cannabis on October 17th, 2018, but left it up to the provinces and territories to oversee distribution and sales.

Canadian Cannabis Market, existing medical and recreational forecast.

The federal legislation, along with strict regulations:

  • allow adults to possess up to 30 grams of legally-produced cannabis;
  • allow adults to grow up to four cannabis plants per household;
  • set the minimum age for purchase and use at 18 years of age, with the option for provinces to increase the age limit;
  • enable a regulatory regime for the licensed production of cannabis, which would be controlled by the federal government;
  • enable a regulatory regime for the distribution and sale of cannabis, which would be controlled by the provincial government; and
  • establish new provisions to address drug-impaired driving, as well as making several changes to the overall legal framework to address alcohol impaired driving.

Starting Oct. 17, 2019, edibles, topicals and extracts are allowed to be legally sold. Packages of edibles won’t be permitted more than 10 milligrams of THC, while extracts and topicals could not exceed 1,000 milligrams of THC.

According to Cannabis Benchmarks, total retail cannabis stores count hit a new high of 3,231 as of June 30, 2022, representing an increase of 606 stores in the first half of 2022.

As of March 2023, there were 953 federal license holders, including 707 licenses for cultivation, 550 licenses for processing and 350 licenses to sale (medical) cannabis.

Analyst predictions that the industry could eventually be worth somewhere between C$4.9bn and C$8.7bn annually.

Cannabis Legalization in Canada Infographics


Source: cannabusinessplans.ca


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