The Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) is adding vaping products to its product offering, but consumers will have to wait a year or so to buy them.

In an information note to all suppliers posted on November 28, the provincial cannabis wholesaler and retailer says it has decided to finally allow the sale of vape products in order to provide a lower-risk alternative to Québec customers compared to unregulated vape products that are easily purchased across the country. 

The SQDC company will hold an online meeting on December 10 to explain to suppliers its requirements for batteries and cartridges. To ensure products comply with regulations and that the new process goes smoothly, the SQDC says it is giving itself approximately one year before beginning to sell these products.

“In a year or so, Québec consumers will have access to quality regulated products, will know exactly what they are inhaling and will be guided by knowledgeable trained advisors,” reads the bulletin, in part [translated].

The new category will be introduced gradually, with an initial rollout of around 20 products.

The SQDC will hold two separate product calls, one for batteries and the other for cannabis vape cartridges. The first online meeting on December 10, 2024, will also be the opening date of the battery product call, with an end date of January 31, 2025.

The SQDC will then open up a product call for cannabis vape carts on March 31, 2025, which will end on April 25, 2025. 

The planned start of sales will be fall 2025. 

Despite a provincial ban, a quarter of cannabis-using Quebecers report using cannabis vapes, according to a survey from the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ) in early 2024. Twenty-five percent of Quebecers who reported consuming cannabis in the past year said they have vaped it. 

Quebec banned cannabis vape pens in 2019. Since there is no legal source for cannabis vapes in Quebec, residents told ISQ that they sourced their vapes from family and friends, from legal sources in other provinces, from illicit suppliers, and/or online. Newfoundland and Labrador had also previously banned the sale of cannabis vapes but began allowing them in 2022.

The survey results come from the 2023 Quebec Cannabis Survey (EQC), collected between February and July 2023 from 13,209 people. The first results from the survey were released in October 2023.

Most Quebecers who consume cannabis do so by smoking it (81%), while 31% reported using edibles and 23% consuming oral cannabis drops such as cannabis oils. These oils have the same active ingredient as in cannabis edibles.

About three-quarters (71%) of Quebecers over the age of 15 who consumed cannabis in the last year reported getting at least some of their cannabis from legal stores in Quebec (SQDC).

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