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Cannabis sales hit $1.3B in fiscal 2019

Published on February 17, 2021 by David Wylie

Here’s a testament to just how fast the cannabis industry is growing in Canada.

New figures released today from Statistics Canada show $1.3 billion worth of weed was sold during the country’s first full fiscal year of legalization, a significant bump from the $908 million reported in the 2019 calendar year.

The difference between the two surveys is subtle—but the nearly $400-million difference between them is not.

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We reached out to the federal statistics agency about the difference and they clarified that the new total number is from the annual retail trade survey, which uses fiscal-year figures.

In contrast, the earlier cannabis sales total came from the monthly retail trade survey, which reports according to the calendar year.

There were a number of factors that accelerated growth.

“Additional cannabis stores opened in 2019, increasing Canadian’s average proximity to brick-and-mortar cannabis stores,” says Statistics Canada.

“Supply chain development, the roll-out of brick-and-mortar stores, the pricing of products and the legalization of new products (e.g., edibles) in late 2019 all supported higher cannabis sales.”