Le cannabis, 5e culture agricole au CanadaCanada

Cannabis has become one of Canada’s most important cash crops since it was first made legal for adult use in 2018. 

Cannabis legalization transformed the sector from less than 1% of total farm receipts in 2016 to a competitor with crops like soybeans and corn, outpacing durum wheat, barley, lentils, and tobacco. 

According to Statistics Canada’s annual farm cash receipts data, cannabis farm receipts (Cannabis seeds, vegetative plants, and flowering tops, including leaves) in Canada have grown from $94.8 million in 2016 to more than $3 billion in 2025.

In 2025, the crop was Canada’s fifth-most important cash crop, with 5.8% of total crop receipts, and ranked third in consumer market value, with annual retail sales of around $4.5 to $5 billion. 

Cannabis receipts (based on the wholesale value of raw harvested crops paid to farm operations) skyrocketed by 274% from 2016 to 2019, surging from under $100 million to over $1.4 billion as commercial production scaled rapidly to meet initial retail demand. After significant annual increases in the first few years of legalization, cannabis crop receipts briefly declined in 2023 and 2024, then rebounded in 2025.

Receipts expanded from $94.8 million in 2016 to peak initial legalization volume over $2.7 billion in 2022, reaching an all-time high of $3 billion in 2025.

In the Prairies, cannabis is dwarfed by traditional grain, oilseed, and pulse production. Still, in BC, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland and Labrador, cannabis was the number one crop by total crop receipts in 2025. In Ontario and Quebec, it was the third-largest.

Ontario saw the largest amount of total cannabis crop receipts in 2025 (48% of national total at $1.5 billion), followed by BC (22% at $666.5 million), Quebec (12%), New Brunswick (10%, and Alberta (3%).

Hemp production shifts

The amount of land cultivated for hemp in Canada remained relatively stable in 2025, while farmers continued to shift away from flower and back to seed/grain.

Canada reported 15,380 hectares of hemp planted in 2025, down only 2.5% from the previous year. The majority of those crops were for grain (84%), while flower accounted for just 3% and fibre for 6%. Seed cultivation was another 7%. 

The hectarage dedicated to hemp grain increased by 53% year-over-year to 12,859 hectares in 2025, across 388 sites. While Health Canada stopped publishing annual industrial hemp licensing and cultivation statistics on its website after the 2023 season, the figures are still available upon request.  

POUR LIRE LA SUITE: StratCann