Seven years after legalization, Canada’s cannabis industry is still maturing – and insurers are evolving alongside it. While most conversations around cannabis insurance have focused on pricing, property risks, and sector stigma, some quieter developments are starting to shift the conversation.
Two trends in particular – a regulatory tweak in Ontario and the slow but steady rise of cannabis exports – haven’t made major headlines, but they’re beginning to influence how coverage is written, how risks are managed, and how insurers view the future of the sector.
As the industry becomes more normalized and globally connected, these subtler shifts may carry long-term implications for cannabis businesses and the insurance partners who support them.
For cannabis retailers in Ontario, a recent policy shift has opened up more than just storefront windows – it’s also likely to reduce a frustrating source of claims.
Until just a few months ago, provincial rules required cannabis retailers in Ontario to keep their windows fully shaded, obscuring any visibility into the store’s interior. The rationale was to prevent people from seeing cannabis products on display. But the unintended consequence was a dramatic spike in break-and-enter incidents.
Cannabis stores have long complained that those rules endanger their staff. While exterior window coverings prevent people from looking into the store, they also hinder employees’ ability to see outside – including spotting potential safety threats. Retailers have noted that the lack of visibility can actually invite crime, as passersby are unable to detect if a robbery is in progress and alert authorities.
“They had so many breakings and enterings,” said Kelli Hunt (pictured), executive vice president at CannGen Canada.
“The [criminals] thought there would be weed everywhere, and they would get in there, and of course there wasn’t, because it was all locked. But still, the door was broken... and you’d still have a loss.”
Hunt emphasized that although insurers may not have directly lobbied for the rule change, the cannabis industry itself played a major role in convincing regulators. “A large part of the cannabis industry... rallied the government to change that rule, and they finally did about maybe two months ago.”
The result? A visible improvement in security that may soon translate into fewer claims and more competitive retail insurance pricing. As Hunt explained, “That should help bring the claims down, and that is what was causing a big problem.”
While cannabis retail policies now resemble those of any other small business – with exclusions, deductibles, and premiums largely in line with other sectors – break-ins have remained a stubborn risk driver. A simple visibility update could make a tangible difference in how these policies perform over time, she told Insurance Business.
While small tweaks are making an impact on domestic risks, the longer-term transformation of the cannabis insurance market lies offshore. Canada’s cannabis industry is no longer a purely domestic affair. Export volumes are rising fast – and that shift is redefining what it means to insure a cannabis operation.
“In the next 12 to 24 months, it could go from a Canadian-only risk to a global business,” said Hunt.
The scale and complexity of insuring international shipments of cannabis are significant. In addition to marine cargo risks, companies must also navigate compliance in multiple jurisdictions, fluctuating political and regulatory environments, and the challenges of continuity in long-distance logistics.
“We need to be the exporter for the world in order for the cannabis industry to thrive in Canada the way everyone wants it to,” Hunt said. “That’s where we are today, trying to figure out how to get it insured from a boat dock to a boat dock.”
While international markets like Australia and Germany are increasingly welcoming Canadian product, the infrastructure to support and insure those exports is still being built. That means brokers, MGAs, and underwriters must all work together to create global policies that match the ambitions of Canadian producers, she added.
Canada’s cannabis sector has long held the first-mover advantage. Now, Hunt says, it has a chance to lead the global industry not just in cultivation and quality, but in the development of insurable frameworks that can be replicated abroad.
That becomes acutely true when you take into account the legal framework in the United States. Until the US resolves its federal cannabis prohibition, Canada’s head start is giving it a unique export window, she says.
“The longer it takes them to figure their stuff out, the more head start Canada has in its unique exporter position.”
