What the Cannabis Act Does, in Plain Language

The Cannabis Act is the federal statute that made non-medical cannabis legal for adults in Canada on 17 October 2018. It is catalogued as S.C. 2018, c. 16, and the Justice Laws Website says its purpose is to protect public health and public safety. What follows is a reading guide to the parts most people ask about, as of 27 October 2026. It is not legal advice.

What does the Act let an adult do?

The Department of Justice summarizes the permitted conduct for adults this way:

• possess up to 30 grams of legal dried cannabis, or the equivalent in non-dried form, in public
• share up to 30 grams with other adults
• grow up to four plants per residence, from licensed seed or seedlings

Section 8 of the Act sets the possession ceiling for an adult at 30 grams of dried cannabis in a public place. Section 12 bars cultivating more than four plants at one time in a dwelling-house, and where two or more adults live there the limit of four is shared between them.

How are different forms of cannabis counted?

The Act converts everything into dried-cannabis equivalents. Justice Canada lists 1 gram of dried cannabis as equal to 5 grams fresh, 15 grams of edible, 70 grams of liquid or 0.25 grams of concentrate. The result is that the 30-gram public limit is a total, not a limit per product type. The federal rules for edibles, extracts and topicals are covered on the concentrates and extracts page.

What is still against the law?

Several offences remain in the Act:

Conduct	Maximum penalty (indictment)	Where in the Act
Selling cannabis to a person under 18	14 years	s. 10
Distributing cannabis to a person under 18	14 years	s. 9
Illegal sale or distribution to others	14 years	ss. 9–10
Illegal production or cultivation beyond the limits	14 years	s. 12
Possessing, producing or selling things meant to produce or distribute illicit cannabis	7 years	s. 13

Possession over the limit can lead to a ticket for small amounts, and for an adult the Act sets a fine of up to $5,000, up to six months in jail, or both on summary conviction, or up to five years less a day on indictment. Justice Canada also says breaching the promotion and enticement rules can bring a fine of up to $5 million or three years in jail, and that taking cannabis across the border carries up to 14 years. See the page on travel, driving and growing for the border rules.

What do provinces and territories decide?

The Act sets a floor. Justice Canada says provinces and territories oversee distribution and sale and may raise the minimum age but not lower it. They may also lower the personal possession limit, lower the number of plants per household and restrict where adults can consume. That is why the legal age is 18 in Alberta, 21 in Quebec and 19 elsewhere. The province-by-province comparison and the age and possession table show how this plays out.

Is the Act still changing?

Parliament required a review three years after the Act came into force. Health Canada says the Minister of Health and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions appointed an independent Expert Panel, and its final report was tabled in both Houses on 22 March 2024. Health Canada’s laws page also lists the Cannabis Regulations and the Industrial Hemp Regulations as the instruments that support the Act. For the dates, see the legalization timeline.