Health Canada To Publish Cannabis Sampling Program Results In 2025
Canada became the first G-7 country to adopt a national adult-use cannabis legalization measure in 2018. Since that time, Canada has served as the top cannabis commerce public policy experiment on the planet.
Health Canada announced in 2023 that it would launch a program to test regulated and unregulated cannabis samples and publish the results of the cannabis sampling testing program. The first round of results is expected to be published this year.
“Health Canada intends to publish the results of this project on the Cannabis Laboratory page “in the coming months,” confirms a senior media relations advisor with the agency’s communications and public affairs branch via email.” stated StratCann in its local coverage.
“When it was announced, the agency said the new cannabis data-gathering program would allow it to “proactively collect information on the legal and illicit cannabis markets in Canada,” focusing on providing Canadians with more accurate info about cannabis health and safety risks.” StratCann also reported.
Every year since 2017, Health Canada has conducted its ‘Canadian Cannabis Survey,’ in which the government agency poses various cannabis-related questions to members of Canadian society. Canada adopted recreational cannabis legalization in 2018, and the survey helps lawmakers and regulators gain insight into how legalization has affected Canada.
Health Canada recently released the results of the 2024 survey, with data being collected from April 4th to July 2nd, 2024. The 2024 survey involved 11,666 respondents aged 16 years and older across all provinces and territories.
One of the main findings of this year’s survey is that only 3% of consumers “reported accessing cannabis through illegal sources,” which is a decrease from a reported 16% back in 2019. Many consumers reported cultivating their own cannabis and/or being gifted cannabis from friends and family. The Health Canada survey also found the following.
- The number of respondents who reported getting cannabis from a legal source in 2024 was 72% – an increase from 37% in 2019 to 72% in 2024, with legal storefronts being the most common source since 2019.
- There was no change in rates of cannabis use among youth (age 16-19) over the past year. Past 12-month cannabis use among youth aged 16-19 was 41%, similar to several previous years (44%, 44%, and 43% in 2019, 2020 and 2023 respectively).
- Overall, the proportion of respondents who said they used cannabis and reported daily, or almost daily use has been stable since 2018 (approx. 25%), including among youth (approx. 20%).
“Since 2017, Health Canada has conducted the annual Canadian Cannabis Survey to better understand attitudes and knowledge regarding cannabis, as well as patterns of cannabis use in Canada. Through the information gathered, Health Canada can better understand where support is needed the most and develop program initiatives that will help educate and raise awareness around the use of cannabis.” Health Canada stated about its annual survey.