Research conducted by the Canadian Government has revealed that the cannabis industry contributed C$16 billion to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and supported 227,000 jobs in 2024. The report, produced by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's Business Data Lab (BDL), found that every dollar of increased output in the cannabis industry adds C$1.06 to Canada's GDP.
"In total, the cannabis sector generated nearly $29 billion in output in 2024, with $26 billion from production activities and $3 billion from retail," the report stated. "This substantial output was driven by $15.1 billion in direct sales and an additional $14 billion in combined indirect and induced ripple effects throughout the economy."
The economic impact breaks down into three categories: direct operations generated C$8.4 billion in GDP and 168,034 jobs; supply chain effects contributed an additional C$4.4 billion to GDP and supported 29,837 jobs; and consumer spending by cannabis sector workers generated a further C$3.2 billion in GDP and 29,329 jobs.
The direct GDP contribution of $8.4 billion in 2024 exceeds that of forestry and logging ($3.4 billion), breweries ($2.6 billion), and wineries and distilleries ($975 million).
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