A first: Statistics on recreational cannabis added to Statistics Canada publication

October 17, 2023 marks five years since the legalization of cannabis in Canada.

For the first time, statistics on recreational cannabis have been added to the Control and Sale of Alcoholic Beverages publication. Here’s what this new addition tells us about the cannabis shopping habits of Canadians.

Sales of recreational cannabis by provincial cannabis authorities and other retail outlets totalled $4.0 billion from April 2021 to March 2022, equivalent to $131 per person of legal consumption age. Of the provinces and territories, Yukon had the highest per person cannabis sales ($291), followed by Alberta ($210) and Saskatchewan ($185), while Quebec had the lowest ($89), followed by Manitoba ($107) and Nova Scotia ($125).

Accounting for 71.1% of recreational cannabis sales, dried cannabis appears to be the preferred type. Other popular types include inhaled extracts such as vape pens, hash, and rosin (18.1%) and edibles (4.1%). Despite having the lowest legal cannabis sales per capita, Quebec sold the highest proportion of dried cannabis (86.3%), most likely because of its ban on cannabis vapes, edibles and topicals in 2021/2022.

Federal and provincial governments earned $1.6 billion from the control and sale of recreational cannabis from April 2021 to March 2022, equivalent to about $51 per person of legal consumption age. 

Data from last fiscal year (April 2022 to March 2023) will be available March 6, 2024. 

For more information on cannabis and alcohol sales, check out the infographic “Alcohol and cannabis sales in Canada, April 2021 to March 2022”.

A new presentation titled “Research to Insights: Cannabis in Canada” is now available.