Canada's Legal Cannabis Market Continues to Grow by Way of Market Share: Insights from the Latest National Survey
Article Written by Adam Isaac Miller
Since Canada legalised recreational cannabis in 2018, the government has proactively conducted annual surveys to track market trends, consumer preferences, and the overall success of the legalisation policy. One of the main goals the government has targeted is reducing consumption via black market use, which seems to be trending positively from approximately 42.7% in 2019 to 71% in 2024.
These surveys are incredibly useful for providing insights regarding the preferences and interests of the audience segments across the market. The latest findings demonstrate the continued growth and consolidation of the legal cannabis market, with an increasing number of consumers opting for legal sources and a diverse range of product preferences among different demographics. In the 2024 survey, 71.7% of cannabis consumers exclusively purchased from legal sources, up from 61% in the previous year's survey.
Consumers have multiple rationales for electing legal versus black market, with the main being product safety (38%), convenience (16.9%), and the desire to follow the law (12.9%). Whilst some might argue that cannabis cultivation poses minimal safety risks, several investigations are currently occurring in Canada and America regarding mislabelling and the use of pesticides in commercially available products.
Cannabis appears to be most popular with Gen Z and Millennials, with 38.4% of those aged 18-24 and 34.5% of those aged 25-44 reporting use in the past year, compared to just 15.5% of adults aged 45 and older. This appears consistent with trends in other countries like Australia.
Product preferences also appear consistent with international markets, with cannabis flowers (62.1%) maintaining the lion's share of preference. However, a trend towards edibles has started to occur, with 57.1% of consumers selecting this format as the most popular (across all age groups). Younger consumers, however, prefer vape pens, cartridges, extracts, concentrates, and beverages, while older consumers favour topicals and oral oils.
Men were more likely to prefer cannabis flowers (70.2%) compared to women (48.4%), while women showed a higher preference for edibles (62.7%) than men (51.9%).
Usage rates remained relatively stable among age groups, with a slight increase in overall population use from 25% to 27%. The shift towards legal sources also persisted, with the percentage of consumers purchasing from legal dispensaries rising from 53% in 2021 to 61% in 2022 and 71.7% in 2024.
As Canada's legal cannabis market matures, the growing preference for legal sources and the diverse range of product preferences among different demographics underscore the value of the regulated channel whilst catering to consumers' needs and preferences. Consumers are seeking regulated products to ensure consumption transparency.
Slowly but surely, the regulated industry is resulting in consumer migration from the black market to the legal market, the entire point of adult use.
Adam has spent over eight years working with unregistered medicines. With a specialization in Cannabinoid Therapeutics, Adam has supported the development, implementation, and market entry of multiple cannabinoid product portfolios in markets such as Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and Brazil. Before working in the medical cannabis field, Adam spent almost a decade building various B2B businesses within education, investment, and medicinal cannabis, with progressive roles including business development, strategy, product development, and project management. He has consulted private and listed cannabis producers and ancillary businesses since 2015 as one of the early entrants and experts in the burgeoning Australian cannabis industry. Adam founded and sat on the board of The Medical Cannabis Council, Australia’s first not-for-profit industry body. He is a frequent public speaker and publishes a widely read industry newsletter. Adam earned a Bachelor of Entrepreneurship from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Adam has appeared in several major news outlets, including the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, Nine News, Startup Smart, SBS, SkyNews, MJBizDaily, and other major publications.
Disclaimer: This information is shared with a global readership for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. All patient-related information has been de-identified OR fictional to protect privacy. Nothing in this article is intended to promote the use or supply of medical cannabis to members of the public.