On the eve of recreational cannabis legalization, few Canadians are planning to smoke or grow pot at home.

Each dwelling will be permitted to grow up to four plants at a time once pot is legalized Wednesday – but only 15 per cent are considering doing so as homeowners worry about the resale value of their properties, a new poll conducted by Zoocasa.com reveals.

The survey results, released Tuesday, found more than half of homeowners (57 per cent) felt  growing even the legal amount would hurt a home's value. Twenty-six per cent disagreed and 18 per cent were neutral.

Millennial respondents were most open to growing cannabis at home (19 per cent) compared with 15 per cent of GenXers and 11 per cent of baby boomers.



The concerns among homeowners were mostly in line with those of potential buyers. Half of respondents (52 per cent) said they’d be less likely to consider buying a home if they knew any amount of cannabis had been grown inside.

The fears around cannabis were even greater when it came to smoking.  

The majority of respondents (64 per cent) felt smoking cannabis would hurt the resale value of their home, a sharp increase from the 39 per cent of respondents who had those concerns in the last survey conducted by Zoocasa in April.

Renters shared a similar viewpoint, with 46 per cent agreeing that smoking pot would devalue their unit, while 33 per cent disagreed, and one-fifth were unsure.

The survey results come as landlords and condo boards scramble to create new rules around cannabis consumption and remain wary about how tenants can grow or smoke legal pot inside their units.

Sixty-four per cent of respondents to Zoocasa’s survey agreed boards and property managers should be allowed to ban smoking and half (52 per cent) said landlords should be able to charge higher rent if tenants smoke in their units.  

The findings are based on an online poll conducted between Sept. 27 and Oct. 3 that surveyed more than 1,380 Canadian residents.

Cannabis Canada is BNN Bloomberg’s in-depth series exploring the stunning formation of the entirely new – and controversial – Canadian recreational marijuana industry. Read more from the special series here and subscribe to our Cannabis Canada newsletter to have the latest marijuana news delivered directly to your inbox every day