Integrating the production, distribution and consumption of cannabis in the Canadian national economic accounts

Statistics Canada is responsible for compiling and disseminating Canada’s key macroeconomic indicators such as gross domestic product, household spending, investment, exports, imports, government revenue and expenditure, and industrial output. With the approval of Bill C-45, a significant portion of cannabis production and consumption is moving from the illegal to the legal market. This now-legal activity is in scope for inclusion in Canada’s estimates of gross domestic product just like other legal economic activities. The change in legal status makes it much easier for Statistics Canada to gather credible data to measure the size of the market. This paper outlines how the Canadian national economic accounts will be adjusted to incorporate both the illegal and the now-legal production and consumption of non-medical cannabis for the period 1961 forward.