Accounting giant Deloitte recently released their 2018 cannabis report, A society in transition, an industry ready to bloom. Powered by AskingCanadians, a Delvinia company, this report provided some much-needed insight on the opportunity that legalizing cannabis presents to the Canadian economy.

Canada is the first G7 country set to legalize recreational cannabis nationwide. As a pioneer in this uncharted industry, there will undoubtedly be many questions and unknowns that need to be addressed. What will the legal cannabis market look like? How fast will it grow? How will the government balance health, safety, and revenue priorities? And most importantly, who will be buying legalized cannabis?

In looking for answers, Deloitte partnered with AskingCanadians, the premier online data collection company in Canada and its extensive network of more than one million panelists, to shed some light on these issues. The insights were drawn from an online survey, conducted earlier this spring, of 1,500 current and likely Canadian recreational cannabis users across the country.

Some notable findings in the report include:

• The legal recreational cannabis market is projected to generate up to $4.34 billion, with overall consumption through legal channels expected to rise by up to 35%
• Among the things that would persuade current users to switch to legal retailers, 55% of respondents cited better quality products, 54% cited a range of prices, 47% cited products with a range of potency and 41% cited products certified to be safe

For more on the survey and its findings, please see the full Deloitte 2018 cannabis report.