Most Canadians see the cannabis industry as a positive economic contributor or believe it could play a significant role in bolstering the country’s future, according to a new survey from Abacus Data. 

This support spanned across political affiliations, with the highest level of support from the Greens and NDP, followed by the Liberals, Conservatives and then the Bloc Québécois. A majority of Canadians (62%) strongly or somewhat agreed that cannabis “could be” an important contributor to the economy in the future, while only 13% disagreed. 

The survey, conducted on behalf of Moncton-based cannabis producer Organigram Global, with input from 1,915 Canadian adults from April 3 to 8, 2025, dispels the idea that politicians’ support for the cannabis industry is a politically risky stance, says the pollster, especially among Conservative voters. 

What that support could look like is unclear, though. When asked about an unnamed, hypothetical industry that had contributed $40 billion to Canada’s GDP, created 80,000 new jobs in mid-sized cities over the past eight years, and had the potential to add billions more to GDP while creating hundreds of thousands of additional jobs over the next five years, 74% of respondents said it would be a good idea for the next federal government to support such an industry. Only 2% said it was a bad idea. 

However, when told that the industry in question was the cannabis industry, those Canadians who supported the idea of federal support dropped to 48%, while those who said it was a bad idea increased to 20%. 

A majority (57%) of respondents said they believed the Canadian cannabis industry was already an important contributor to the economy, with 14% disagreeing. Support for this idea was strongest in the Prairies and Atlantic Canada (64, 65%), followed by Ontario (62%), BC (59%), Quebec (49%), and Alberta (45%). 

Openness to the idea that the next federal government should do more to support the cannabis industry was also highest in Atlantic Canada (72%), followed by Ontario (69%), BC (65%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (62%), Alberta (59%), and Quebec (55%). 

Younger Canadians (18–29) were most likely to support the idea of the next federal government making the cannabis industry “easier” (73%), followed by those aged 30-44 (69%), then those aged 45-59 (60%), and lowest among those 60 and up (57%).

These findings, argue the pollsters, contradict the idea that cannabis might be a politically risky topic, especially among more conservative or cautious voters, although regional differences do still factor in. 

Specifics of what type of government assistance would be supported by Canadians were not clear, although the paper presenting the results suggests that this could translate into support to remove interprovincial barriers on cannabis sales, reform the excise taxation framework, standardize regulations, and encourage investment in research and development.  

“Whether you’re campaigning in downtown Vancouver, rural Ontario, or Atlantic Canada, pushing for responsible regulatory reforms or investment incentives for the cannabis sector is unlikely to provoke significant blowback,” concludes the Abacus presentation. “On the contrary, the data suggest that more than half of voters in every region and within every party’s base would be comfortable or even excited to see the industry continue to expand.”

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