Canada’s Cannabis Sector Contributes $11.6 Billion to National GDP
Recent economic data from Stratcann and other sources indicates that the cannabis industry continues to be a significant driver of the Canadian economy.
In 2025, the sector’s total contribution to the national GDP reached approximately $11.6 billion. Notably, the licensed production and processing segment accounted for the vast majority of this impact, contributing $10.6 billion. This represents a steady increase over previous years, highlighting the industry’s maturation and its role as a more substantial economic contributor than several other traditional agricultural and beverage sectors.
The data underscores the long-term viability of the sector and provides a factual basis for ongoing discussions regarding industry regulation and economic policy. Licensed production now contributes more to the national GDP than industries such as air transportation and meat product manufacturing.
The data is primarily derived from Statistics Canada. The 11.6 billion dollar figure for 2025 is based on real-time and monthly gross domestic product data tracked by industry. These figures are calculated using chained 2017 dollars to provide a consistent comparison over time across various economic sectors. Another major source for these figures is a comprehensive economic study released in September 2025 titled High Impact, Green Growth: The Economic Footprint of Canada’s Cannabis Industry. This report was a collaborative effort between the Business Data Lab at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Organigram Global. While the study found an even higher total economic impact of 16 billion dollars when including indirect and induced effects, it used the raw underlying data provided by Statistics Canada to perform its modeling.
Cannabis Consumption in Canada
Stats Canada published an article on April 19, 2024 that discusses various aspects of cannabis in Canada including production, sales, consumption, crime and even wastewater. The article combines government statistics with information from Canadian consumers.
The government agency reported that more than one in three Canadians adults are using cannabis. “In 2023, more than one-third of adults aged 18 to 24 years (38.4%) and 25 to 44 years (34.5%) reported using cannabis in the previous 12 months, compared with 15.5% of adults aged 45 years and older. About 1 in 10 adults aged 18 to 24 years (8.7%) and 25 to 44 years (10.3%) reported using cannabis daily or almost daily in the previous 12 months, compared with 4.8% of adults aged 45 and older.”
In a surprising statistic, the article also reports that out of every five dollars spent on legal cannabis, two dollars went straight into government coffers.
“Federal and provincial governments received $1.9 billion from the control and sale of recreational cannabis in 2022/2023, up by almost one-quarter (+24.2%) from a year earlier.”
To read the full article, visit Statistics Canada:
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/6091-cannabis-consumption-canada