New data finds cannabis use in Ontario jumped significantly in the year before recreational use was legalized.

A survey of 2,800 Ontario adults conducted by the Centre for Mental Health and Addiction in Toronto found 19.4 per cent of respondents reported using marijuana in 2017.

Those numbers were higher than in 2016 when 15.7 per cent reported some form of pot use.

The record level followed a steady year-over-year rise in use of the previously illegal drug since 1996.

The biggest increase over the long term was among people in their late teens and early 20’s.

The percentage of people aged 50 and older who reported previous use also jumped.