Education

Cannabis at Canadian Universities: Which schools and programs report highest use?

A majority of students saying they never use marijuana, but results vary by school

More than 23,000 university students responded to Maclean’s online survey, giving their opinions on professors and staff, residence life and opportunities for extracurricular activities. Therefore, all marijuana use is self-reported, with 63.3 per cent of total students saying they never indulge.


University name Overall Daily A few times a week About once a month A few times a month Less than once a month Less than once a year Never
Bishop's University 56.4% 7.0% 7.0% 8.1% 11.4% 12.7% 10.1% 43.6%
St. Francis Xavier University 55.4% 3.0% 5.0% 9.9% 11.4% 15.3% 10.9% 44.6%
Acadia University 53.9% 6.4% 5.9% 7.4% 5.9% 17.6% 10.8% 46.1%
University of Victoria 52.4% 2.8% 3.8% 6.9% 9.3% 15.5% 14.1% 47.6%
Queen's University 48.5% 2.0% 3.4% 7.3% 8.3% 14.0% 13.4% 51.5%
Wilfrid Laurier University 48.4% 3.7% 5.7% 6.2% 9.1% 11.0% 12.7% 51.6%
McGill University 47.8% 1.9% 5.6% 5.9% 7.3% 15.6% 11.6% 52.2%
Dalhousie University 46.2% 3.4% 6.8% 4.0% 7.4% 11.9% 12.7% 53.8%
Lakehead University 46.1% 5.0% 5.0% 4.3% 5.0% 9.9% 17.0% 53.9%
Cape Breton University 45.2% 1.6% 6.5% 3.2% 6.5% 14.5% 12.9% 54.8%
University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) 43.7% 3.9% 1.9% 4.9% 7.8% 8.7% 16.5% 56.3%
Mount Allison University 42.9% 7.1% 3.6% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 10.7% 57.1%
Concordia University (Montreal) 42.8% 1.3% 4.4% 6.1% 7.4% 10.5% 13.1% 57.2%
Saint Mary's University 42.6% 4.8% 6.7% 3.5% 7.8% 10.1% 9.7% 57.4%
Western University 42.1% 3.2% 4.1% 3.8% 7.2% 13.9% 9.9% 57.9%
Laurentian University 41.8% 3.5% 6.0% 6.0% 5.0% 10.0% 11.4% 58.2%
Mount Saint Vincent University 41.6% 7.9% 4.5% 6.7% 3.4% 9.0% 10.1% 58.4%
University of Guelph 41.0% 2.1% 4.6% 4.2% 6.7% 12.6% 10.9% 59.0%
St. Thomas University 40.9% 4.5% 4.5% 5.5% 5.5% 7.3% 13.6% 59.1%
The University of British Columbia (UBC) 40.5% 2.6% 5.3% 5.7% 7.2% 11.5% 8.4% 59.5%
Trent University 40.0% 3.0% 3.0% 4.8% 7.0% 10.4% 11.9% 60.0%
Carleton University 39.3% 2.4% 3.9% 3.9% 6.5% 12.2% 10.4% 60.7%
Memorial University of Newfoundland 39.1% 2.3% 4.3% 3.6% 5.6% 12.9% 10.3% 60.9%
University of New Brunswick 38.1% 1.3% 4.0% 3.1% 4.4% 11.9% 13.3% 61.9%
Brock University 37.9% 3.6% 3.9% 4.0% 5.5% 9.1% 11.8% 62.1%
Ryerson University 37.5% 1.4% 2.8% 3.1% 6.4% 12.7% 11.1% 62.5%
University of Lethbridge 37.5% 4.0% 4.0% 3.7% 5.1% 8.5% 12.1% 62.5%
Nipissing University 37.4% 5.8% 3.7% 1.1% 5.3% 10.5% 11.1% 62.6%
Universit̩é de Montr̩éal 35.1% 0.9% 1.3% 2.5% 4.1% 11.6% 14.7% 64.9%
University of Ottawa 35.1% 3.1% 3.2% 3.4% 4.3% 12.4% 8.7% 64.9%
University of Windsor 34.9% 1.6% 5.3% 5.3% 2.6% 6.9% 13.2% 65.1%
Brandon University 34.5% 6.0% 3.4% 3.0% 4.7% 7.8% 9.5% 65.5%
The University of Winnipeg 34.3% 3.6% 3.5% 3.4% 4.6% 8.5% 10.6% 65.7%
University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) 33.8% 2.0% 2.0% 7.3% 3.3% 8.6% 10.6% 66.2%
Universit̩ du Qu̩bec Á Montér̩al (UQAM) 33.1% 4.7% 1.8% 2.2% 4.0% 8.6% 11.9% 66.9%
Universit̩é de Sherbrooke 32.0% 2.6% 1.0% 1.5% 3.6% 8.2% 14.9% 68.0%
University of Waterloo 31.0% 0.6% 1.0% 3.8% 4.9% 9.3% 11.3% 69.0%
York University 30.6% 3.1% 1.7% 3.3% 4.3% 7.8% 10.5% 69.4%
University of Regina 30.0% 5.2% 1.9% 3.8% 3.8% 6.6% 8.9% 70.0%
Universit̩é Laval 29.9% 1.0% 1.0% 2.0% 1.5% 11.4% 12.9% 70.1%
University of Alberta 29.6% 1.5% 1.8% 3.5% 3.7% 9.2% 10.0% 70.4%
University of Saskatchewan 29.5% 3.1% 3.1% 1.2% 4.0% 6.8% 11.4% 70.5%
McMaster University 29.2% 0.6% 2.4% 4.3% 4.7% 8.7% 8.5% 70.8%
Simon Fraser University 29.1% 0.7% 3.1% 1.7% 3.5% 7.3% 12.8% 70.9%
University of Toronto 28.4% 1.1% 2.4% 3.5% 4.1% 9.9% 7.4% 71.6%
University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) 27.0% 0.6% 2.3% 2.9% 5.2% 10.9% 5.2% 73.0%
University of Manitoba 25.9% 1.6% 0.9% 2.8% 4.1% 6.9% 9.7% 74.1%
University of Calgary 24.7% 1.3% 1.7% 2.2% 4.6% 7.4% 7.4% 75.3%
Universit̩é de Moncton 23.4% 2.1% 1.5% 1.5% 2.4% 6.5% 9.5% 76.6%

Program Percentage of students who are marijuana users
Drama 55.8%
Journalism 51.0%
Environmental science 50.6%
Sociology 50.5%
Political science 46.3%
Philosophy 46.0%
Communication 44.6%
International relations 42.9%
Psychology 42.5%
Economics 41.6%
Anthropology 40.3%
Design 39.4%
English 39.0%
Business 37.8%
Kinesiology 37.0%
Law 37.0%
History 36.7%
Art 36.1%
Nursing 35.9%
Criminology 35.7%
Physics 34.6%
Neuroscience 34.5%
Architecture 34.0%
Engineering 33.8%
Music 32.7%
Chemistry 32.0%
Biology 32.0%
Education 29.8%
Computer science 29.7%
Linguistics 29.3%
French 29.0%
Pharmacy 28.2%
Medicine 27.9%
Math 25.0%

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