Report: CBD could spark booming market in Canada if it’s legalized for health products

CBD has “significant potential for growth” in Canada if the government were to allow the cannabinoid in natural health products, a think-tank predicts.

A report released this week by the Canadian Health Food Association estimated the CBD market in Canada at CAD $1.9 billion ($1.44 million), with immense potential for exporting CBD to other countries.

Currently it is illegal to bring non-prescription CBD health products into Canada’s marketplace. But if the country were to do so, the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy estimates that Canada could get a huge windfall.

“We have seen reports on the size of the CBD market in other jurisdictions, like the United States or the United Kingdom,” said Dan Demers, Vice President of Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs at CHFA.

“But we want to be able to show key decision makers the size of the potential CBD health product market here in Canada, contingent upon a change in regulation.”

The group projected that legal changes allowing CBD in Canada would lead to a market worth CAD $2.45 billion ($1.86 billion) by 2023.