August 22, 2025 | David Brown

Google Ads is launching a limited pilot program in Canada, allowing cannabis-related product types or services to utilize the online advertising platform.

Participation in this program will be restricted to federally licensed cannabis producers in Canada, where the federal government licenses and regulates commercial cannabis production through Health Canada while the provinces oversee their own cannabis distribution and sales.

In a post on August 20, the American multinational technology company said the pilot project will run on Search only, beginning August 25, 2025 and will last for up to 20 weeks. Google says the goal of the pilot project is to explore user interest and inform any potential future policy updates.

Google Search ads allow businesses to display their advertisements on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). This form of online advertising involves businesses paying to have their ads appear when users search for particular keywords.

While the project is active, cannabis product ads may be available on Search. Google Ads says users will have the option to opt out of ads they do not want to see.

Canadian federal law places strict limits on how cannabis companies can market and promote their products and services. However, they are permitted to share information about brands and products in settings inaccessible to young people.

Google also allows ads for topical, hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) products with THC content of 0.3% or less, in line with certain US industry standards and practices. Advertisers are required to apply to advertise these kinds of CBD products, and they can only target California, Colorado, and Puerto Rico. Some ad formats may have additional restrictions for the promotion of CBD products.

Google’s policy towards recreational drugs has included recent limitations for products or services marketed as facilitating recreational drug use, including products like pipes, bongs, and cannabis coffee shops. It also does not allow ads for instructional content about producing, purchasing, or using recreational drugs.

In the past, ads for unlicensed cannabis businesses in Canada were not uncommon on Google. In recent years, those kinds of ads have largely disappeared, although they do still appear on other Google Platforms like YouTube. The search platform still, of course, shows numerous unlicensed cannabis sellers in its results.

Social media giants like Meta have a history of inconsistency when it comes to legal and illegal cannabis businesses in Canada.

In a related post from July 1, Google said that advertisers in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand who are planning to use Google’s personalized targeting tools to promote products or services containing Restricted Drug Terms to healthcare professionals in their professional medical capacity must apply for the Restricted Drug Term Personalization Certification.