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Over the past two decades, Canada has shifted away from a punitive approach to drug policy. 

It has reduced or eliminated criminal sanctions for drug use and introduced policies that prioritize health and harm reduction through safer drug use.

Canada’s approach to decriminalization has been uneven, and the results so far are mixed.

Here, we provide an overview of key developments in Canada’s drug laws and policies, and what the data reveal about them.

High-risk drug use

In 2003, Canada opened its first supervised consumption site in downtown Vancouver. Supervised consumption sites enable individuals to use otherwise illegal drugs under supervision to reduce the risk of overdose. These sites often also dispense free clean needles and naloxone kits.

Over the past decade, Health Canada has authorized the expansion of supervised consumption sites across the country. An estimated 31 are now in operation across six provinces — the highest number of federally sanctioned sites in the world.

To further support high-risk drug users, in 2017, the Trudeau government passed the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, a law that encourages people to seek help during overdoses by removing the risk that they will face arrest.

Cannabis

In 2018, Canada became the first G7 country to create a legal market for recreational cannabis, generally ending the criminal prohibition on adult cannabis possession.

It has also implemented a system to enable individuals with past convictions for cannabis possession to have their criminal records effectively expunged.

Public surveys suggest legalization has normalized cannabis use and moved it out of the black market. Just over one-quarter of Canadians used cannabis for non-medical purposes in 2024. And nearly three-quarters of all cannabis purchases were from regulated providers, up from 37 per cent in 2019. 

Cannabis legalization has helped keep many young people out of the criminal justice system, particularly benefiting Indigenous and racialized communities that were disproportionately charged with cannabis offences.

However, normalization of cannabis use has also come with health consequences.

Research conducted in Canada and the U.S. has linked heavy cannabis use to elevated risks of heart attack, schizophrenia, dementia and premature death.

Canadian cannabis regulations do not currently set a universal limit on THC potency, the primary psychoactive compound responsible for the drug’s intoxicating effects. ​​Higher THC concentrations can increase the potential for adverse health outcomes, including psychosis, especially among frequent users. 

Increasingly, cannabis users are being treated in emergency rooms for repeated, severe bouts of vomiting, a condition known as cannabis hyperemesis syndrome.

Psychedelics

Psychedelics such as psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine have a unique legal status in Canada, remaining largely illegal, though ketamine can be prescribed in some clinical settings. 

Used in guided therapy sessions, these substances show promise for treating mental health conditions like substance use disorder, PTSD and treatment-resistant depression. 

Experts note that criminalization hinders research; jurisdictions such as Oregon and Australia have eased restrictions to allow regulated therapeutic use under professional supervision.

Ketamine is legal in Ukraine and is being used to treat soldiers with PTSD amidst Russia’s war. In April, Ukraine passed a law aligning the country’s controlled substance rules with EU standards, a move that could pave the way for clinical trials of other psychedelics.

B.C.’s decriminalization pilot

In late 2023, Ottawa authorized British Columbia to implement a formal decriminalization pilot for hard drugs.

During the three-year pilot program, individuals were permitted to possess small amounts of certain illegal drugs — including cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl — for personal use. Psychedelics were not part of this exemption.

During the pilot, the B.C. government did not require police to make referrals for treatment, and addiction treatment providers received no additional funding.

The pilot quickly faced major challenges. Police and the public reported visible public safety issues, including open drug use in places such as playgrounds and beaches.

Data show the program reduced police interactions, but had minimal impact on hospitalizations, overdoses or treatment uptake. Some reports indicated prescriptions for opioid addiction treatment actually declined. 

In May 2024, at the province’s request, Ottawa rolled back its drug-law exemption, partially recriminalizing public drug use and limiting decriminalization to private residences, shelters, supervised consumption sites and clinics. 

In January 2026, the three-year decriminalization pilot ended. B.C. said it would not renew the program, making possession of hard drugs for personal use effectively illegal again in the province.

Enforcement and the Portuguese Model

The shifts in Canada’s drug laws and policies have been accompanied by a decline in drug law enforcement over the past decade. 

Drug possession prosecutions made up less than half of all drug-related cases in 2024, down from three-quarters in 2014. 

In 2020, the government encouraged prosecutors to prioritize serious drug cases affecting public safety, encouraging prosecutors to favour alternative measures or diversion over court proceedings for simple possession.

Federal and B.C. policymakers have often referenced Portugal’s drug policy model in Canadian drug policy discussions. But policymarkers have not adopted the full system Portugal built when it decriminalized drugs in 2001. 

In Portugal, public drug use and possession exceeding set limits remain illegal. And people caught with small amounts for personal use are not criminally charged, but are referred to Dissuasion Commissions. These expert-staffed commissions assess risk of problematic substance use, offer counselling and connect users to treatment.

Portugal also pairs decriminalization with robust law enforcement, addiction treatment, harm reduction and social services. 

As a result, in Portugal, problematic drug use and drug-related HIV infections have fallen sharply, and drug-related deaths remain under 100 a year. By contrast, Canada continues to lose more than 6,000 people annually to opioid overdoses.

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