Organigram releases report on cannabis sector

Executive Summary

• Organigram Global Inc. released a landmark economic report titled "High Impact, Green Growth," conducted in partnership with the Business Data Lab at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, highlighting the legal cannabis industry's significant contribution to Canada's economy in 2024.
• The report indicates that the legal cannabis sector contributed over $16 billion to Canada's GDP in 2024, generating nearly $29 billion in total economic output and supporting over 227,000 jobs nationwide.
• Organigram CEO Beena Goldenberg used the report to advocate for policy modernization, arguing that cannabis should be a pillar of the Prime Minister's "one Canadian economy" vision and calling for the elimination of outdated excise tax structures and the establishment of a national export strategy.

Key Details

• GDP Contribution: The legal cannabis industry contributed more than $16 billion to Canada's national GDP in 2024.
• Total Economic Output: The sector generated nearly $29 billion in total economic output.
• Direct GDP Comparison: Cannabis's direct GDP contribution of $8.4 billion in 2024 exceeded that of forestry and logging ($3.4 billion), breweries ($2.6 billion), and wineries and distilleries ($975 million).
• Employment Impact: The sector supported over 227,000 jobs, including 168,000 direct jobs in cultivation and retail, and 59,000 jobs in supply, logistics, and professional services.
• Regional Agricultural Comparison (New Brunswick): Legal cannabis is New Brunswick's most valuable crop, with farm cash receipts hitting $269.4 million in 2022, surpassing potatoes and dairy.
• National Agricultural Comparison: Nationally, cannabis generated $2.7 billion in farm cash receipts in 2024, outmatching greenhouse vegetables ($2.63 billion) and field vegetables ($2.44 billion).
• Policy Critique: The report highlights that outdated excise tax structures and the absence of a national export strategy are hindering the sector's potential, despite an international market projected to surpass $140 billion by 2026.
• Company Operations: Organigram Global operates facilities in Moncton, N.B., and Lac-Superieur, Que., with an edibles facility in Winnipeg, Man., and processing facilities in Aylmer and London, Ontario.

Notable Quotes

• "The legal cannabis sector is a high-value industry that is already delivering what the Prime Minister's one Canadian economy vision calls for: a nationally integrated, high-value industry that's built in Canada, employing Canadians and competing globally." — Beena Goldenberg, CEO, Organigram Global
• "Canada's legal cannabis industry has a major economic footprint in Canada. It is not only an emerging, domestic sector that has created and sustained hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide, but one with economic impacts felt coast to coast through the vast cannabis supply chain." — Andrew DiCapua, Principal Economist, Canadian Chamber of Commerce's Business Data Lab
• "If Canada is serious about building the strongest economy in the G7, then industries like cannabis, which is already a $16-billion engine of jobs and innovation, must be a pillar of the one Canadian economy strategy. It's time to modernize the rules, eliminate unnecessary barriers and unfair taxation, and give this industry the same opportunity to thrive as other strategic sectors." — Beena Goldenberg, CEO, Organigram Global