16 billion $ and 227,000 jobs: cannabis becomes Canada's economic engine

L’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 the cannabis company Organigram, based in New Brunswick, shows that in 2024 the sector contributed 16 billion to Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) and has supported more than 227,000 jobs all over the country.

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

According to the findings, the industry generated almost 29 billion in economic output by 2024, of which 26 billion came from production activities and 3 billion from retail sales. These figures underline 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 growing, processing and retailing activities.
• Indirect impact The industry's supply chain, which covers packaging, utilities, security and many other areas, has added $4.4 billion to GDP and supported nearly 30,000 jobs.
• Induced impact The sector's employee spending 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 is already fulfilling the Prime Minister's vision of a uniquely Canadian economy: a national, integrated, high value-added industry that is built in Canada, employs Canadians and is globally competitive,» said Beena Goldenberg, CEO of’Organigram Global.

«With bold national leadership, we can secure Canada's place as a world leader in cannabis, an engine of national economic resilience as part of the vision of a single Canadian economy.»

Provincial leaders and regional impact

Ontario stands out as the country's economic powerhouse when it comes to cannabis. The province accounted for more than half of the sector's contribution to GDP, reporting 8.3 billion dollars and supporting 89,000 jobs. British Columbia followed with $2.9 billion and 46,000 jobs, while Quebec contributed $2 billion and supported 41,600 jobs. Together, these three provinces account for 82% of the national GDP impact.

Smaller provinces also contributed. Visit New Brunswick added $1 billion to GDP and supported over 9,000 jobs. Visit Nova Scotia recorded a GDP impact of $317 million, with 6,832 jobs, while the’Prince Edward Island, despite its size, saw its GDP increase by $162 million and create 1,469 jobs, thanks to a strong multiplier effect in the retail sector.

In the West, the’Alberta's cannabis industry generated $885 million in GDP and supported 19,271 jobs. Visit Saskatchewan generated $300 million and over 7,000 jobs, with a particularly strong production multiplier of $1.26 per dollar of output. Visit Manitoba contributed $120 million and 4,040 jobs, while Newfoundland and Labrador added $69 million and supported 1,828 jobs.

One of the report's key findings is the importance of multiplier effect generated by the cannabis sector. Every dollar of production in the industry contributes an additional 1.06 $ to Canada's GDP. Retail activities appear to be particularly effective, with each dollar spent generating $1.23 in GDP nationally, outperforming production ($1.04).

Prince Edward Island and Ontario posted the highest multipliers, reinforcing the importance of well-structured retail systems in maximizing economic benefits.

Growth drivers for the future

The report also looks to the future, identifying several factors likely to sustain and expand the role of the cannabis sector in the Canadian economy. These include:

• Expansion of retail and production capacities in all provinces
• Supply chain integration that strengthen national resilience
• Evolving regulatory frameworks that could remove obstacles to growth
• International export opportunities, Canada has positioned itself as a world leader in cannabis
• Continuous product innovation, from edibles to beverages and beyond

The combination of these factors suggests that the legal industry is still maturing and could continue to increase its contribution to national GDP and employment in the years ahead.

Comparison with other reports

This isn't the first time the scale of the cannabis industry's impact has been highlighted. Deloitte and the Ontario Cannabis Store recently reported that the sector contributed 76.5 billion to GDP Canadian and 23.1 billion to GDP Ontario between legalization in 2018 and 2024.

According to the same study, the industry supported around 98,200 jobs a year during this period, a third of them in Ontario.

In addition, new data from Statistics Canada show that Canadian household final consumption expenditure on cannabis has reached 1.7 billion in the second quarter of 2025, The company's sales are now at record levels and continuing their upward trend, the equivalent of an entire year in 2020.

All in all, these reports confirm that legal cannabis is no longer a marginal industry, but one of the fastest growing. strategic contributor to the economy which shapes employment and production in all regions and sectors.