Canada made the first steps towards the advancement of all other developed countries by legalizing cannabis for people using the it for medical and recreational purposes. We have been seeking for opportunities for more innovation on research and more development on production. Furthermore, we have also been building Canadian cannabis companies that can be global leaders.

The Spotlight aims to answer questions regarding how certain institutions like the government, the private sector, the researchers, and other valuable stakeholders align themselves to the aforementioned ‘advancing’ mission and what opportunities are waiting when the developing cannabis industry and bioeconomy coincide.

Key Points

Canada has an advantage being the first mover in the global legal industry of cannabis due to development of companies, scaling of products nationally, and exporting of the said products, the IP and the know-how to other countries if legalization is being applied.

Canada’s federal and provincial governments, through government policy and supporting regulations, must promote association among different groups within the economy of cannabis, set clear priorities and objectives and provide focus efforts within around.

Research for cannabis can bring commercial impacts in the aspects of food, healthcare, textiles, plant health, construction materials, and others. Canada can be home to leading experts in the research and in the globally competitive commercialization if the said applications, as long as the country will not burden the economic sector with too many regulations.

Biomass applications are being considered as having a high potential for cannabis research aside from the medical and recreational usages. Be it in terms of energy generation, or new material development or even in synthetic manufacturing, cannabis can be of high significance in the bioeconomy of Canada.