Canada first legalized medical cannabis in 2001, although the North American nation’s modern medical cannabis laws and regulations came into effect in 2018 as part of Canada’s cannabis public policy overhaul. Lawmakers in Canada legalized cannabis for adult use in 2018 and updated their medical cannabis policies as part of the 2018 law.
As is typically the trend in jurisdictions that have adopted recreational cannabis legalization after first legalizing cannabis for medical use, medical cannabis patient registrations in Canada have decreased over time. Some medical cannabis patients prefer to make their legal purchases from the recreational cannabis market instead of the medical market since it doesn’t require registration.
“The number of medical client registrations with federally licensed sellers fell 3 % from 179,931 in June 2024 to 174,500 in September 2024.” the Canadian government states on its website. For contextual purposes, Canadian medical cannabis registrations peaked in Q3 2019 at 369,614.
“The number of individuals registered with Health Canada for personal and designated cultivation of cannabis for their own medical purposes decreased 3 % from 16,609 in June 2024 to 16,096 in September 2024.” the Canadian government also wrote on its website.
“The majority of the decrease of 513 in registrations for personal/designated production is from two provinces: Quebec with a decrease of 303 registrations and Ontario with 122.” Canada stated.
A recent analysis found that Canada’s legal cannabis industry continues to increase its contribution to the nation’s overall GDP. Canada remains the only country on the planet that permits adult-use cannabis sales to anyone of legal age. Uruguay limits adult-use cannabis sales to residents only, and European Union agreements prohibit national sales among its member nations.
South Africa has also adopted a national adult-use cannabis legalization measure (in 2024), and is expected to eventually permit recreational cannabis sales. However, industry rules and regulations have yet to be adopted.
“The gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices for the legal cannabis industry in Canada in April 2025 was $9.2 billion. The figures are up from $9.1 billion in March.” reported StratCann in its local coverage. “While licensed cannabis producers’ contribution to Canada’s GDP ($8.2 billion) increased 9.8% from April 2024, unlicensed cannabis production’s contribution ($1.7 billion) declined 4%, adding to the ongoing trend of market share shifting from the illicit sector since legalization in 2018.”
“Licensed cannabis stores contributed just under $1 billion to Canada’s GDP as of April 2025, a 6.4% year-over-year increase from April 2024. Unlicensed cannabis stores contributed another $839 million, representing a 4.1% decline.” the outlet also reported.
“Statistics Canada released April retail sales for the country, with cannabis sales increasing from the March levels, up 5.7% to C$466.7 million. March, originally reported at C$428.4 million, was revised higher to C$443.9 million. The sales in April were up 6.6% from a year ago.” reported New Cannabis Ventures in its recent original coverage.