*The provincial excise taxes vary. Cannabis Benchmarks estimates the population weighted average excise tax for Canada.

**CCSI is inclusive of the estimated Federal & Provincial cannabis excise taxes..

The CCSI was assessed at C$7.16 per gram this week, down 1.1% from last week’s C$7.25 per gram. This week’s price equates to US$2,480 per pound at current exchange rates.

This week we outline the scope of the growing Canadian industrial hemp market. 

Under the Cannabis Act, which made cannabis legal last October, Health Canada also set out the Industrial Hemp Regulations (IHR). The rules define hemp as a cannabis plant with a concentration of less than 0.3% THC in the flowering heads and leaves. The IHR constructs a framework around certain activities involving hemp, such as its cultivation, sale, and processing, as well as its importation and exportation into and from Canada. A license needs to be obtained from Health Canada in order to conduct any of these activities.

Starting in the 1980’s, industrial hemp cultivation was permitted for scientific research purposes. The first license to grow industrial hemp for commercial purposes in Canada was issued in May 1998. Health Canada data compiled in 2018 shows there were 1,226 licences issued, with 711 of those for cultivation. Unsurprisingly, 63% of the total cultivation licenses in the country were issued to growers in the three prairie provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

Source: Health Canada, Hemp Benchmarks

A breakdown of the acreage licensed for cultivation of hemp by province shows a similar picture in which the three prairie provinces constitute most of the country’s production capacity.

Source: Health Canada, Hemp Benchmarks