Cannabis is now a top five Canadian cash crop. StatsCan puts the 2025 crop at $3 billion, or 5.8 percent of all crop receipts, nearly a billion dollars ahead of potatoes in sixth place.
A decade ago this was a $94.8 million curiosity. In 2016. Now it outranks almost every traditional crop in the country. That arc is the whole legalization thesis in one chart.
How big is the number really?
Three billion dollars in crop value. Up from $2.7 billion in 2022 and $94.8 million in 2016. Ontario leads with 48 percent of national receipts at $1.5 billion, followed by British Columbia at 22 percent and $666.5 million. Quebec, New Brunswick and Alberta round out the top five provinces. When a single crop goes from rounding error to three billion in nine years, the market structure underneath it is worth studying.
Where does cannabis rank by province?
In the Prairies, grains and oilseeds still rule. But cannabis was the number one crop by total receipts in British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. In Ontario and Quebec it ranked third. That geographic spread matters. This is not one province carrying the number. It is a national agricultural sector now, which is exactly the kind of scale story Tilray’s diverging results keep pointing at from the corporate side.
Is production still growing?
Licensed indoor growing area hit 1,536,415 square meters in the third quarter of 2025, up 11 percent from the prior quarter and 8 percent year over year. Outdoor approved space jumped 22 percent year over year. Processing area grew too. And retail set records in May and June, topping half a billion dollars, per Health Canada data. Supply and demand are expanding together, which is the healthy version of growth. Investor surveys keep confirming that capital follows exactly this pattern.
What should US operators take from this?
Canada is the closest thing to a finished experiment in legal cannabis at national scale, and the plant keeps climbing the agricultural rankings. Scale, professional cultivation and retail records arriving together is what a maturing market looks like. The operators who treat this as a real industry instead of a policy debate keep winning, a dynamic visible in the shareholder value data as well.
FAQs
- How much was Canada’s cannabis crop worth in 2025?
About $3 billion, or 5.8 percent of total crop receipts, according to StatsCan. - What crop did cannabis beat?
Potatoes, in sixth place, by nearly $1 billion. - Which province grows the most cannabis?
Ontario, with 48 percent of national receipts at $1.5 billion, followed by British Columbia at 22 percent. - How much has it grown since legalization?
From $94.8 million in 2016 to $3 billion in 2025. - Is Canadian cannabis production still expanding?
Yes. Licensed indoor area rose 11 percent quarter over quarter in Q3 2025, outdoor space rose 22 percent year over year, and retail set records in May and June.
Source: Ganjapreneur: Cannabis Was Canada’s 5th Most Important Cash Crop in 2025.