Reduce your risk: Choose legal cannabis

The information on this page concerns cannabis for recreational use. For information related to cannabis for medical use, visit Medical use of cannabis.

While cannabis is legal in Canada, illegal products are still being sold and consumed in Canada. Learn to recognize the differences between legal and illegal cannabis, and find out why it matters.

Why you should choose legal cannabis

Adults of legal age may purchase legal cannabis products from authorized retailers in Canada.

Legal cannabis products must meet the requirements of the Cannabis Act and its regulations, which set out rules for product quality, promotion, packaging and labelling. If you choose to consume cannabis, reduce your risk by choosing legal cannabis products.

Legal cannabis:

is quality controlled and tested for harmful levels of contaminants
is tested for accuracy of THC and CBD levels, so you know exactly what you're buying
can be recalled by manufacturers, licence holders or Health Canada if there's a potential safety or quality issue

Illegal cannabis:

is not tested or quality controlled and may contain harmful levels of contaminants, including:
- heavy metals
- pesticides
- mould
- cutting agents
- bacteria
information on THC and CBD that may be unknown, misleading or false
may be produced and sold using products or practices that could harm you
can contain harmful levels of THC, resulting in accidental poisonings, visits to the emergency department and hospitalizations, particularly in children
could put you at risk for identity theft and financial fraud

How to recognize legal cannabis

Legal cannabis products for non-medical use are sold only by retailers authorized by a province or territory.

A legal cannabis product will always have certain information on its package and label. Look for all of these features to determine if a cannabis product is legal.

Excise stamp with specific colours indicating the province or territory in which the product is intended to be sold
Yellow box with a health warning message in English and French
Standardized THC cannabis symbol
Child-resistant packaging (with the exception of plants and seeds)
Nutrition facts table for edible cannabis

For more information on legal cannabis packaging and labelling, refer to How to read and understand a cannabis product label.

How to recognize illegal cannabis

Illegal cannabis products can be difficult to spot. Sometimes they are made to look like legal products. Here are differences you can look for. An illegal product may:

be packaged to look like a popular brand of candy or snack food
have a name that's similar to a popular brand of candy or snack food
look like candy that might appeal to children, such as gummy bears
have glitzy or flashy promotions or other types of publicity such as celebrity endorsements
come in a package that isn't child-resistant
not have:
an excise stamp
- the standardized THC cannabis symbol
- a health warning message in English and French
claim to contain more than 10 mg of THC per container of edible cannabis products, which exceeds the maximum permitted in legal edible products.

THC limits for legal cannabis products

There are rules about how much THC is permitted in legal cannabis products. If a product claims to contain more THC than the allowed limit, then it's not a legal product.

The THC limits vary by legal cannabis product type:

edible cannabis: maximum 10 mg of THC per container (no matter how many units are in the container)
cannabis extracts for inhalation (like vape pens): maximum of 1,000 mg of THC per unit container
cannabis extracts for ingestion (like capsules): maximum of 1,000 mg of THC per container and 10 mg per unit
topicals: maximum 1,000 mg of THC per container

If you're concerned or have a complaint about a possible illegal cannabis retailer, contact your local law enforcement or nearest RCMP detachment.

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2026-05-19

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Reduce your risk: Choose legal cannabis

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