Let’s be clear right off the top: This ain’t no snickelfritz.
The products listed here are among the goodest good-good that the Canadian legal market has to offer. That elusive triple good.
Now, there’s a lot to consider before you start parsing through companies and cultivars for the best Canadian weed on the market. Are you after flower or pre-roll or something else? And how about quantity? Do you want a gram, an eighth (3.5g), or are you looking for something from the large format cabinet like a half ounce or an ounce?
In Canada, it also matters where you live, because odd provincial laws can keep some buds from crossing borders, like Vancouver-based retailer and producer Burb’s new B.C. Zaza, which has “B.C.” right in the name, but is available only in Ontario and Nova Scotia, and not its home province due to ‘tied laws’ that prohibit direct connections between non-medical retail stores and federal producers. What can you do? C’est la weed.
Also, sometimes it’s just about timing. Even under expert thumbs of the world’s best growers, all batches will vary, sometimes subtly, sometimes noticeably. So don’t be shocked if the kush you loved so much two months ago doesn’t hit the same way or smell as dank when you pick it up again.
For this list, we used a combination of online reviews from sources like Leafly, Reddit, and the provincial pushers themselves, plus input from the cannabis enthusiasts on the Complex’s masthead and their pro-pot friends, to determine the loudest, most terpelicious, most consistent, and most THC-dominant strains available in Canada now.
Most of the cultivars here were selected for flavour and/or effect, and none are what you might consider ‘entry level’. You’ll pay a premium at the till, but get it back in the bong.
If your favourite didn’t make the list, feel free to shout it at us on Twitter.
Island Pink Kush by Simply Bare Organic
Image via Simply Bare Organics
THC:20-26 percent
Terpenes:>2.5 percent
Availability:In most provinces and territories
You can’t have a conversation about quality cannabis in Canada without including Simply Bare. The B.C.-based company has a number of ace cultivars on the market, including a new B.C. White Rntz sativa, and their terpiest strain, Blue Dream, but it’s their Island Pink Kush that gets special mention here for easily being one of the most consistent premium kushes available across the nation.
Descended from the industry classic OG Kush indica hybrid, Island Pink Kush gives off an aroma of diesel, lemon and florals, and provides an engaging mental and physical high that we recommend saving for the evening.
First Class Funk by Ghost Drops
Image via Publicist
THC: 25-30 percent
Terpenes: 3.5-4.5 percent
Availability:In Ontario and B.C., or nationwide for medicinal users.
It’s got the hype because it’s worth the hype. Yes, including the $50 price tag. Packaged in a bright pink jar and sometimes accompanied by a collectors card with a pic of the bud and “genetic strain stats” (if your budtender has swiped it), Ghost Drops’ First Class Funk is, as the brand says, “big on potency, big on flavour, and big on bag appeal.”
It’s cultivated in small batches overseen by seasoned growers who are so fully dedicated to getting you funked up in style that they may have inadvertently created time travel. FCF is an indica-dominant cultivar that burns white with a dank and creamy flavour, and gives a lasting full-body-and-mind kick that can and will make you late for any appointment. You’ve been warned: set a reminder and a couple alarms if you’ve got sh*t to do.
Afghani Bullrider by Bullrider
Image via Publicist
THC: 16-21 percent
Terpenes: 2 percent
Availability: In Ontario
Drake bought into cannabis brand Bullrider back in 2021, following his OVO OG Noah “40” Shebib. And when Drake says inhale, we say how high. Shebib was using legendary grower Jeff Tek’s Afghani Bullrider strain as a way to treat the symptoms of his multiple sclerosis for years before he helped bring it to the masses (Ontario’s masses, for now, though the brand says expansion is on the horizon) via the legal market.
Wouldn’t you know, the ‘plant medicine’ with around 20 percentTHC and a sweet and sour taste also makes for a special recreational experience with a mellowing impact that will have you smiling but shouldn’t leave you stuck between the couch cushions like a lost nickel.
Waffle Bites by Cake and Caviar
Image via Publicist
THC: 21-26 percent
Terpenes: 3-3.5 percent
Availability:In B.C.
There’s been A++ weed coming out of B.C.’s Shuswap region for decades, only now you can buy it with a credit card. (Editor’s note: We’ve sent this “research” to accounting along with receipts for purchases and, sadly, they still say it’s not a deductible expense.)
Cake and Caviar is a Certified Organic brand that grows in aquaponics systems in the B.C. Interior. It’s run by parent company Habitat, which also raises organic produce like tomatoes and farms coho salmon using the nutrients leftover from the weed operation. Waffle Bites—also available in pre-rolls—is a drool-inducing cross between cheesecake and sour OG that’s sweet and savoury on the palate and definitely sativa-leaning in its effects. Walk your dog, and smoke up your dawg, but never get the two confused. (Special mention also to Blueberry Yum Yum, another absurdly delicious option from C&C.)
Platinum Grapes by Organnicraft
Image via Organnicraft
THC: 24-30 percent
Terpenes: >3 percent
Availability:In B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario in May
Organnicraft’s Legacy growers are not f*cking around in their small-batch growhouses in Vernon, BC. The quality of all of their cultivars, including the star Platinum Grapes, is top notch. Platinum Grapes’ hand-trimmed buds are dense, dark and crystally, and give off a phenomenal terpene profile with a grape and soil aroma and a sweet berry flavour. The effect is an instantaneous upper—almost a frenetic cerebral vibration—followed by a full-body relaxation that’s perfect for physical activity.
