(Toronto) Cannabis has boosted Canada’s gross domestic product by $43.5 billion and Ontario’s by $13.3 billion since recreational cannabis was legalized in October 2018, a new report reveals.
Posted at 12:33 p.m.
Updated at 3:24 p.m.
The report, released Tuesday by the firm Deloitte Canada and the Ontario Cannabis Society, calculated that for every dollar in revenue or capital expenditures, the cannabis industry added about $1.09 to Canada’s GDP and $1.02 $ to that of Ontario thanks to legal purchases.
The report provides a window into the impact of the Canadian cannabis industry on the country’s finances in recent years, and concludes that the sector is “already an important source of economic growth”.
“In the space of three years, the Canadian cannabis sector has taken hold and proven itself as a new engine of economic growth, creating and maintaining tens of thousands of jobs in many communities across the country,” says The report.
“As the sector grows and matures, and is now reaping the returns of the substantial investments made, we can expect it to have increasingly significant positive impacts on the national and provincial economies. »
The report found that the industry was responsible for 151,000 jobs, and that for every million dollars in revenue or capital expenditure, the cannabis sector supported approximately four jobs in Canada and Ontario each.
The research also estimates that the industry generated $15.1 billion in tax revenue in Canada and $3 billion for Ontario.
Consumer purchases alone generated $2.9 billion in sales and excise taxes.
At the Ontario level, the report shows cannabis retailers and producers were responsible for $142 million in direct taxes, $1.2 billion in indirect taxes and $673 million in other taxes, while consumer purchases contributed to 1.0 billion in sales and excise taxes.
The report also presented an overview of the diversity within the sector and how little it has changed since legalization.
“Prior to legalization in October 2018, nearly all of the country’s 45 licensed cannabis producers were businesses run by white men, some of whom had gained experience in the gray cannabis market,” the report said.
“This situation did not change much in the years that followed. »
The report pointed out that a 2020 study by the Center on Drug Policy Evaluation and the University of Toronto found that racialized men and women were significantly underrepresented among cannabis company executives and directors.
Based on responses from 700 executives and directors from 222 companies, the report calculated that 72% were white men, 12% were white women, 14% were racialized men, and 2% were racialized women.
The racialized portion of the nation’s cannabis leadership includes 40% South Asian, 19% East Asian, 15% Indigenous, 12% Arab, and 7% each for those who identify as Spanish speakers or blacks.