One Year On from Recreational Cannabis Legalization, 8% of Working Canadians Say Usage Permitted in the Workplace
Toronto, ON, October 3, 2019 — Nearly one full year after legalization in Canada, a new Ipsos survey for ADP finds that a majority of Canadian workplaces do not allow recreational cannabis to be used in the workplace or during work hours. The overwhelming majority of working Canadians – nearly nine in ten (86%) – say their employer does not permit recreational cannabis use, leaving 8% who say their employer does permit use – in line with the 6% who thought they would be allowed to use it before or during work hours in Ipsos’s previous survey for ADP, conducted just prior to legalization in 2018. A further 7% don’t know if their employer permits usage or not.
Among the small number (8%) of working Canadians who claim their employer allows the use of recreational cannabis – including 13% of managers and just 3% of non-managers – many have taken it up, with usage being most prevalent after work hours when socializing with work colleagues (72%). However, when extrapolated to Canada’s working population at large, the survey finds that only a fraction are consuming recreational cannabis either before (5%), during (4%), or after work (6%).
Less Workplace Impact Than Expected
For most working Canadians, the legalization of recreational cannabis has not had a noticeable impact on their workplace. A majority say that legalization has had no workplace impact in terms of health and safety incidents (75%), productivity (74%), absenteeism (71%), or quality of work (70%).
This is in stark contrast to opinions held just prior to legalization in 2018, when nearly half of working Canadians surveyed expected productivity (46%) and quality of work (43%) to decline, and health and safety incidents (55%) and absenteeism (40%) to increase.
Overall, nearly half of working Canadians (46%) say their perception of recreational cannabis usage has not changed since legalization. Two in ten (22%) say they have a more positive impression now than they did (8% much more/14% somewhat more), extending to 25% of managers vs. just 18% of non-managers. Positive perceptions on cannabis are highest in Ontario (27%) and Atlantic Canada (22%).
Nearly two in ten (16%) have a more negative impression of recreational cannabis usage since legalization (9% much more/7% somewhat more), while 13% say they don’t have any feelings about it and 4% don’t know.
Expectations for Edibles
With the legalization of cannabis edibles, extracts and topics in Canada due to occur this year on October 17, employers will doubtless be reviewing their expectations around workplace consumptions yet again. However, not all working Canadians expect there to be a de facto review. A majority (55%) say it’s not likely (29% not at all/25% not very) that the legalization of edibles will change their employer’s expectations around impairment in the workplace, leaving three in ten (30%) who say it is likely (13% very/17% somewhat), and a further 15% who don’t know.
Managers (37%) are more likely than non-managers (23%) to expect a change in their employer’s expectations. Regionally, this opinion is most prevalent in Alberta (35%), Ontario (33%), and British Columbia, and least held in the Prairies (17%) or Atlantic Canada (20%).
When it comes to their organization’s expectations surrounding legal cannabis use by employees, most (80%) claim to be either fully (63%) or somewhat aware of what their employer expects, though 13% are not, and 8% aren’t sure. Managers (68%) are more likely than non-managers (58%) to be fully aware of their employer expectations. Regionally, Atlantic Canadians were most likely to be fully aware (72%) of their organization's expectations while Quebecers were the least likely to be aware (56%).
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between August 30 and September 18, 2019, on behalf of ADP. For this survey, a sample of 1,160 working Canadians aged 18 and over were interviewed. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the population of working Canadians according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±3.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all working Canadian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this Factum, please contact:
Sean Simpson
Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2002
About Ipsos
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