Karma Cup
A Toronto cannabis festival, trade show and competition, seen through the one detailed account we could find: glass trophies, a last-minute run-in with the city and makers from coast to coast.
- 610results on record
- 2014–2025years in our data
- 12editions
- 302matched to strains
- Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canadalatest location
01How it began
Sarah Sunday founded the Karma Cup in Toronto in 20131. It was billed as a cannabis festival and an industry trade show at once, with a competition at its centre1.
Sunday also sought out entrants herself. In the account we have, she tried products from a small Vancouver hash oil maker, liked them, and invited the company to compete at the Cup1. The same piece places the event in an open-air venue in Toronto's gay village1.
02A contest with a few plot twists
The third annual Cup is the edition we know most about. Thompson Caribou Concentrates, the Vancouver hash oil maker Sunday had invited, won awards across many categories1. Healing Garden Canada won best edible product, and its founder gave an emotional speech1. Lindsay OG, a strain linked to a grower collective in Lindsay, Ontario, was named Indica bud champion for the second time1. Every winner received a functional glass trophy made by the Canadian glass artist Redbeard1.
The writer sat on the judging panel and said the hash oil categories, which covered shatter, wax and solventless hash, had the toughest competition1. The City of Toronto tried to stop the event at the last minute, which put the organizers under strain, but it went ahead1. Our source does not give the calendar year of this third edition.
03Who showed up
Growers, bakers and extractors came from as far east as the Maritimes, as well as from Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia1. Hilary Black, founder of Canada's first compassion club, gave a talk as a guest speaker. The writer saw her appearance as a sign that corporate and craft cannabis might come together1.
The fair side of the event drew local dispensaries such as CALM and MMJ Canada, along with head shops, equipment companies, clothing makers and even children's book authors1. The article describes a wider scene of interlinked medical-program growers, patients, trained chefs, hash-makers and glass artists, many of them working in a legal grey area at the time1. Its author, Earl Theodore, is the pen name of a southern Ontario writer who judged at the Cup1.
The results, in our data
CannaLib holds 610 results from this cup across 12 years (2014 to 2025), 302 of them matched to a strain in the catalogue.
Recent first-place strains
| Year | Strain | Category | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Blue Lobster | Indica | Vasco X Cipher |
| 2025 | Blueberry Banana | Hybrid | Vasco X Cipher |
| 2025 | Hawaiian Pineapple | Sativa | Pineapple Buds |
| 2025 | Pineapple Haze | Pre-roll | Pineapple Buds |
| 2024 | Ripped Off Runtz | Indica | Mauve & Herbes |
| 2024 | Grape Stank | Sativa | OM – Ostara Médical |
| 2024 | Apple Fritter X Zkittlez | Pre Roll | Other Peoples PCT – Opp – Grown by Lreez |
| 2023 | Ice Cream Cake | Indica | Royal Cannabis Supply Co. |
| 2023 | Purple Gusher | Sativa | Pineapple Buds |
| 2023 | Apple Fritter | Hybrid | Low Key |
| 2023 | Pink Lemonade | Prerolls | 1Spliff |
| 2022 | Khalifa Mints | Hybrid Bud | Headwater Cannabis |
| 2022 | Cherry Ak47 | Sativa Bud | Paradise Valley Botanics |
| 2022 | Tropicana | High Terpene Extract | Caviar Extracts |
Editions on record
- 2014 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 2015 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 2016 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 2017 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 2018 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 2019 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 2020 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 2021 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 2022 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 2023 · Ontario, Canada (results announced at Recreational Market Launch); gala in Toronto
- 2024 · Ontario, Canada; gala in Toronto
- 2025 · Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sources
Written from the sources above and checked on 2026-10-29. Spot an error? Tell us on the contact page.