Retail cannabis sales continue to cool off in Canada

Retail cannabis sales continued to cool off in Canada after nearly five years of growth, with sales in April hitting a year-over-year low, with $518 million in sales compared to $525 million in sales in April 2023.

The newest figures from Statistics Canada show seven of the past ten months with month-over-month declines from a peak of $564 million in August 2023. While sales surge significantly in the first several years of legalization, in the past year. 

Statistics Canada does periodically update their previous monthly figures as new data comes in. While the data quality for most months is considered of excellent quality, the most recent four months are considered very good or good.

The newest wholesale cannabis sales figures from Stats Canada show a similar trend, with wholesale sales dropping off from a peak of $597 million in February 2024, followed by now four months of declines. 

As of August 13 there were 3,722 licensed cannabis retail stores in Canada.

• British Columbia: 523 public and private stores listed as “active” 
• Alberta: 709
• Saskatchewan: 190
• Manitoba: 209
• Ontario: 1,822 
• Quebec: 99
• New Brunswick: 27 public stores, plus nine private stores and six farmgate stores, for a total of 42
• Nova Scotia: 50
• PEI: 5, up from 4 in January (+1)
• Newfoundland and Labrador: 59
• Northwest Territories: 6 brick-and-mortar locations, plus 1 private online store
• Nunavut: 2, up from 1 in March (+1)
• Yukon: 6

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