Canadians have been out-buying themselves in legal weed this year, with another record set in June for retail cannabis sales.
On Friday, Statistics Canada released preliminary retail sales data, which shows a monthly increase of 1.7 per cent to $318.7 million. This is the fourth consecutive month the country hit record weed sales.
The daily spending average for June is about $10.6 million, and Canada could surpass $3.87 billion in weed sales this year.
Canada’s overall retail sales increased 4.2 per cent in June, primarily led by higher sales at clothing stores. Six provinces saw sales go up, with Ontario and Nova Scotia leading the pack at 9.8 per cent and 16.3 per cent respectively.
Weed sales have also gone up in those two provinces.
Nova Scotia’s sales shot up 10.5 per cent to $8.2 million, the largest jump of any province.
Ontario’s sales rose 8 per cent to $120.1 million, while Ottawa leaped 13.3 per cent to $12.1 million. Toronto’s $43.7 million represents a 5 per cent increase.
Canada’s most populous province has continued to add more retail stores, reaching more than 1,000 as of Friday.
You can now shop at over 1000 Authorized Cannabis Retailers across Ontario, owned and operated by your local buds. Find a store near you: https://t.co/GA1K26YcY7 pic.twitter.com/3ElBh7ZxZG
— Ontario Cannabis Store (@ONCannabisStore) August 20, 2021
Large markets dip while weed sales climb in Maritimes and Prairies
Of the four largest weed markets in Canada, Ontario is the only one to bring in higher sales in June.
Alberta’s sales dropped 4.4 per cent to $57.1 million, and Quebec dipped 0.7 per cent to $49.2 million.
Both provinces had cannabis sales steadily increase for most of the year — with the exception of February — before dipping in June.
Sales had been climbing for three months in British Columbia before dropping 4.1 per cent to $44.5 million in June. Vancouver’s sales decreased by 1.4 per cent to $14.4 million. A total of 371 licences have been issued in B.C. so far.
Read more: Canadian cannabis sales remain steady in February at $263M
Read more: Canadian weed sales bounce back to $298M in March
Read more: Vancouver drives Canadian weed sales to record high in April
Saskatchewan sold $13 million, up 0.7 per cent from May, and Manitoba’s sales went up 2 per cent to $12.1 million.
It seems the Maritime provinces are faring better in June than the previous month as well.
In addition to improved sales in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick’s went up 3.4 per cent to $6.6 million. Newfoundland and Labrador saw a similar increase of 3.8 per cent to $4.9 million.
Sales for P.E.I and the Yukon haven’t been provided by StatsCan since March.
There weren’t any June numbers for the Northwest Territories either. Nunavut hasn’t had available sales data and currently only has one store.
Canada retail sales data from May has been revised slightly to $313.18 million.
Note: Statistics Canada updates its raw data on a monthly basis, so previously reported figures can become outdated as a result. Refer to the most recently reported sales for the most up-to-date information.
Follow Kathryn Tindale on Twitter
kathryn@mugglehead.com
