Players in the field are slowly getting their footing back and settling into a different North American market versus pre-pandemic.
In Canada, the low point was likely in the spring of 2020 when the number of manufacturing jobs in the Cannabis sector barely reached 2,000.
In the latest assessment by Dalhousie University, support for legalization has surged to over 78 per cent of respondents, up from 49 per cent in 2019, placing Canadians’ cannabis approval levels above those in some U.S.
Unlike the United States, even though cannabis is legal federally in Canada, regulations and how edibles are recognized as a drug, and not as a food, has made the Canadian edibles market more rigid and less attractive than the United States.
Medical cannabis is now legal in 36 American states, while recreational consumers can use the drug legally in 17 states, including Connecticut which just joined the group.
Although worry in many respects is declining, the Canadian government is fully aware that Canadians remain concerned about public safety related to cannabis, and particularly edibles.
The cannabis market in Canada is nowhere near what Deloitte predicted when it suggested retail sales would top $7 billion in 2019.