Canada

The Canadian cannabis industry continues to prove its importance to the country's economy. A new study prepared by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's Business Data Lab (BDL) and commissioned by New Brunswick-based cannabis company Organigram shows that in 2024, the sector contributed $16 billion to Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) and supported more than 227,000 jobs across the country.

The report, entitled High Impact, Green Growth: The Economic Footprint of Canada’s Cannabis Industry, analyzes the entire legal supply chain, from federally licensed producers to retail sales. Using an input-output model based on Statistics Canada data, it breaks down the sector's direct, indirect, and induced contributions.

According to the findings, the industry generated nearly $29 billion in economic output in 2024, with $26 billion coming from production activities and $3 billion from retail sales. These figures underscore both the scale and diversity of the sector's impact.

Breakdown of contributions

The study identifies three categories of economic impact:

• Direct impact: $8.4 billion in GDP and 168,034 jobs were created directly by cultivation, processing, and retail activities.
• Indirect impact: The industry's supply chain, which covers packaging, utilities, security, and many other areas, added $4.4 billion to GDP and supported nearly 30,000 jobs.
• Induced impact: Spending by employees in the sector on housing, food, and services generated an additional $3.2 billion in GDP and more than 29,000 jobs.

“The legal cannabis sector is a high value-added industry that already aligns with the Prime Minister's vision for a unique Canadian economy: an integrated, high value-added national industry, built in Canada, employing Canadians, and competitive on a global scale,” said Beena Goldenberg, CEO of Organigram Global.

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