Canada Loves Pre-Rolls - and the Opportunity Keeps Getting Bigger

Canada is one of the clearest examples of what happens when a legal cannabis market moves into maturity. When growth slows in the total market, not every category benefits equally. Some categories flatten. Some get squeezed. And a few establish themselves as dependable engines of growth that keep revenue steady for retailers and producers.

Pre-rolls are that engine.

Over the last few years, even when overall Canadian cannabis revenue seemed to plateau and some legacy categories lost momentum, pre-rolls kept moving in the opposite up and to the right.

In the kind of steady climb that signals something more important: pre-rolls are becoming the go-to product format for a large portion of Canadian consumers.

That’s where market opportunity lives, and that’s where market opportunity continues to see growth.

Why a Maturing Market is Good News for Pre-Rolls

Canada’s recreational cannabis market has been operating long enough that demand isn’t infinite anymore, consumer behavior is becoming more about repeat purchases rather than the “try everything” excitement of early legalization.

Retailers are less focused on novelty and more focused on consistently strong unit sales and margins, and brands are under pressure to justify shelf space and build reliable product SKUs, and that’s where pre-rolls thrive.

They’re smoke-ready, consistent and portioned, and easy for consumers to understand and relate to. They’re the closest thing cannabis has to a “grab-and-go” staple. When consumers aren’t looking to expand their horizons, they gravitate toward formats they feel are dependable.

So while other categories can see fewer sales when consumers tighten spending or become more selective, pre-rolls keep holding attention and continue to quietly pull market.

Pre-Rolls Established as Leading Product Category

Prior to 2024, flower had a comfortable lead as the dominant revenue category in Canada’s cannabis market, but recently that lead has been overtaken by pre-rolls.

That’s not a random occurrence either, it reflects a shift in how consumers shop: they still want flower experiences, they just don’t always want the flower effort. This is even more prevalent in warmer months where pre-rolls edge out flower in total sales comfortably.

The trusty pre-roll gives consumers the product they want in the format they prefer, and as the market matures, that preference has only gotten stronger.

Canadian Consumers Prefer Pre-Roll Multi-Packs

To understand why Canada is uniquely attractive as a pre-roll market, start with the fact that Canadian consumers overwhelmingly prefer multi-packs.

In the U.S., single pre-rolls remain a dominate force at the front counter, but in Canada, multi-packs drive revenue. The best-selling products are rarely singles, they’re multi-packs, and not by a small margin.

Multi-packs also align with how people actually consume cannabis in Canada today, they’re ready-to-smoke, easy to share, and ideal for on-demand sessions whenever the moment hits.

And multi-packs unlock more flexibility around pre-roll product strategy, offering producers the ability to bundle multiple strains, terpene profiles or infusions, and easily roll out seasonal or limited-edition offerings.

And multi-pack sizing in evolving.

Consumers routinely shift shopping habits between pack sizes based on value, experience, quantity and product type, especially with infused pre-rolls continuing to expand their reach. And producers have responded by expanding their multi-pack offerings, and those new formats are increasingly showing up among top-selling pre-roll product SKUs around the country.

Infused Pre-Rolls Fuel Growth in the Category

When infused pre-rolls became legal and normalized in Canada, consumers pushed them into the limelight. Infused and “connoisseur” products continue to grow in popularity, and they do so while carrying higher price tags than traditional non-infused options.

And brands can protect their margins through the connoisseur segment while retailers maintain strong profit on unit sales.

New Products on the Market Tend Toward Pre-Rolls

Another major signal of growth comes when you look at what products are being launched. Pre-rolls represent a disproportionately large share of new cannabis products entering the market. New products allow brands the opportunity to compete for consumer attention, and pre-rolls are where brands believe the attention is worth competing for.

And while individual provinces show differences in preferences, with some leaning more toward infused products while others maintain strength in non-infused formats, the national pattern is quite consistent. Across major markets, multi-packs dominate sales, infused and hybrid products attract the most consumer interest, and competition within the category remains heated.

Key Takeaways on Pre-Rolls’ Dominance in the Canadian Cannabis Market

Pre-rolls remain one of the most dependable and adaptable product formats in Canada’s mature cannabis market, driving repeat purchases and performing particularly well in multi-pack and infused formats, raising average basket value, allowing brands to comfortably expand and diversify their product offerings.

Pre-rolls are a foundational product category in Canadian cannabis, and the brands that treat as such are the ones thriving.