Since the advent of legal pot in Canada one year ago, things have changed – but not in the ways many people might have expected. Most of us don’t have to “swim” through clouds of smoke on the way to work, and contrary to some pre-conceived fears by existing homeowners and new homebuyers, property values haven’t plummeted, home sales haven’t suffered, and the housing market hasn’t all gone to pot, so to speak.

In fact, a post-legalization study by Pollara Strategic Insights found that Canadians reported a small increase in pot usage and a significant increase in acceptance. Changing attitudes were also a running theme in the new RE/MAX Cannabis Reflection Report, which found that legal pot shops aren’t on homebuyers’ radar. This is in stark contrast to a RE/MAX poll conducted in late 2018, which revealed that 65 per cent of Canadians would not like to live near a retail cannabis store.

However, a more recent survey of RE/MAX brokers finds that 21 per cent of Canadians already live in close proximity to a legal pot shop, and 72 per cent of them said it would not be a factor in their decision to move.

It appears that there were a lot of anticipated reservations surrounding cannabis retail and the negative impacts on local property values that did not come to pass. We have not seen a decrease in home sales or prices that can be attributed to legal pot. In fact, the opposite may be true. As the retail footprint grows and diversifies into edibles and other formats, buyers and sellers may start to feel less resigned.

Here’s what RE/MAX experts are reporting in Canada’s biggest housing markets:

The presence of more stores may influence how homebuyers approach certain neighbourhoods. Even with changed attitudes, however, the idea of NIMBYism still looms in the background. But for the time being, acceptance and adoption seems to have been pretty positive.

With the next round of legal pot coming in the form of edibles and topicals as early as this December, only time will tell how the public adopts, accepts and reacts to the new normal in their communities, and the long-term impact on their property values and the liveability of their neighbourhoods.

More to Explore

Calgary real estate

5 Things That Will Affect Calgary Real Estate in the Next 10 Years

September 30, 2025

Best places to live Toronto

Liveability is a Top Selling Feature When Listing Your Home

September 26, 2025

Family moving in and talking about How Much to Budget for Moving Costs

How Much to Budget for Moving Costs

September 25, 2025

Exploring your neighbourhood

Fall Homebuying and Exploring Your Neighbourhood with Man’s Best Friend

September 23, 2025

A couple talking about How Long Does Mortgage Approval Take After Pre-Approval

How Long Does Mortgage Approval Take After Pre-Approval?

September 22, 2025

Selling your Home this Fall

6 Tips for Selling your Home this Fall

September 22, 2025

Design Trends for Fall 2025

Design Trends for Fall 2025

September 19, 2025

Two women in the garden talking about What Is Homesteading in Canada All About

What Is Homesteading in Canada All About?

September 18, 2025

Will the Bank of Canada Cut Interest Rates This Year

Interest Rate Announcement: Bank of Canada Lowers Rate After Six-Month Hold

September 17, 2025

Find the
Right Agent

Sign up
For Our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
This field is hidden when viewing the form

Next Steps: Sync an Email Add-On

To get the most out of your form, we suggest that you sync this form with an email add-on. To learn more about your email add-on options, visit the following page (https://www.gravityforms.com/the-8-best-email-plugins-for-wordpress-in-2020/). Important: Delete this tip before you publish the form.
Untitled(Required)

*RE/MAX, LLC, 5075 S. Syracuse St., Denver CO, 80237; RE/MAX Western Canada and RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic, 639 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 2B7, 905-542-2400