More than 15,000 young people under the age of 21 were denied entry to Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) stores last year, according to data compiled by the Crown corporation and recently revealed by Le Journal.

Pierre Leclerc, President and CEO of the Quebec Cannabis Industry Association, explains why Quebec products do not appear to be favored on SQDC shelves, particularly due to a price floor.

After investing $25 million in its Lévis facilities, Ono Cannabis now aims to take things to the next level with an ambitious expansion project that could triple its production capacity in the medium term.

More than 15,000 young people under the age of 21 were denied access to SQDC stores in one year. This figure raises a fundamental question: where do consumers aged 18 to 20 turn next? By excluding them from the legal market, Quebec is not preventing them from using cannabis. Rather, it is depriving them of access to regulated products—whose composition and THC content are clearly labeled—as well as to an environment governed by strict rules.

As part of its efforts to reduce administrative burden, Health Canada has created a repository to track changes made to its cannabis-related publications. The latest updates concern import permits, odour control and industrial hemp.

A clinical study involving 120 people with advanced dementia suggests that an oral formulation combining THC and CBD may reduce agitation. After 12 weeks, nearly 90% of the participants who received the treatment showed an improvement in their symptoms, compared with about 23% in the placebo group.

The Régie des marchés agricoles et alimentaires du Québec will hold a public consultation regarding the AQIC’s application for accreditation on October 23, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. on Zoom.

As part of Health Canada’s consultation on potential amendments to the Industrial Hemp Regulations, AQIC submitted a brief proposing an ambitious, coherent and risk-based modernization of the framework governing industrial hemp.

The Government of Nova Scotia has just announced the introduction of new offences and increased fines to discourage illegal cannabis sales and better support the legal market. As Scott Armstrong, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, explains: “These changes reaffirm that buying and selling cannabis outside the legal market is illegal. They will help protect youth while supporting the safe, legal market for adults who choose to consume cannabis.”

A recent Australian study, published in *Pain Research and Management* and reported by *Science & Vie*, offers a new line of thought: a cannabis oil containing a balanced ratio of THC and CBD reportedly enabled 70% of the patients in the treatment group to experience at least a 30% reduction in their pain.

The SQDC reported net income of $132.4 million for the 2025–2026 fiscal year, representing a 12.1% increase over the previous year. Total sales reached $809.5 million, up 9.2%. These results translate into a contribution of $331.3 million to the Quebec government’s coffers, bringing the total amount remitted to governments since 2018 to over $2 billion.

Pre-rolled joints are projected to surpass loose flower by 2025 to become the largest category of cannabis products in Canada, now accounting for 34% of the market. This trend demonstrates that consumers are increasingly turning to formats that are convenient, accessible, and easy to carry.