A comprehensive new report, “Economic Analysis of the Hemp and Cannabis Industry,” takes an in-depth look at the economic landscape of Quebec’s burgeoning industrial hemp and cannabis sectors.
The report, commissioned by the Quebec Hemp and Cannabis Industry Association (Association Québécoise de l’Industrie du Chanvre et du Cannabis—AQIC), highlights the industry’s significant growth since cannabis legalization in 2018, while also looking at some of the persistent regulatory barriers and the ongoing headwinds of social acceptability and stigma.
The report calls for policy reforms to support the continued growth of the industrial hemp and cannabis industry in Quebec and Canada as a whole by addressing the federal regulations for industrial hemp, clarifying guidelines for CBD products, and enhancing the social acceptability of both industrial hemp and medical cannabis.
Pierre Leclerc, President of AQIC, says the report had two primary goals. The first was to ensure that the industry can back up some of their asks to federal and provincial regulators when it comes to understanding the economic benefits the cannabis industry has in Canada.
Secondly, and more specific to Quebec, says Leclerc, is the upcoming provincial election scheduled for October 5, 2026.
“Since legalization, industry has been asking for a lot of regulatory changes, at the provincial and the federal levels,” explains Leclerc. “We’ve been really good at pinpointing some issues, but without really any background data to back it up. We thought the industry was now mature enough that we can back up our demands and bring into our rationale some comprehensive economic data of the cannabis and hemp sector.”
“Right now, when you look at what’s available, publicly speaking, there’s not a whole lot of analysis that has not been done by the government. We have the GDP impact and the investments into the legal market, but not much else.
“The other thing behind this is we’re entering the provincial election cycle in Quebec. The political parties are building their platforms as we speak, and we know that the CAQ (the Coalition Avenir Québec or “Coalition for the Future of Quebec”, which forms the government in the province) isn’t really open to the cannabis industry, they only look at it as a harmful substance. For them there’s no benefit to their economic potential. So we want to make sure the other political parties understand what the industry is all about.”
With that said, Leclerc notes that while the CAQ have been, up to this point, very conservative around cannabis policies, he’s seeing some traction recently. In fact, he says several CAQ MNAs (Members – National Assembly of Québec) were among the many politicians in the province who reached out to the CAQ after reading the report.
“We sent the analysis to every single MNA in Quebec and we had some great feedback from them, even from members of the CAQ. They want to learn more about the industry, so I think we’re getting there slowly. And that’s one of the purposes of the report, is to make sure we can have that conversation and we thought that a report like this was the best way to do it.”
The report also suggests that revisions of federal regulations, tax reforms, and product diversification are pathways to maintain sustainable growth and competitiveness in the evolving market.
READ MORE: StratCann
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