Canada Cannabis Spot Index (CCSI) 

Published June 14, 2019

*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$7.24 per gram this week, up 6.2% from last week’s C$6.81 per gram. This week’s price equates to US$2,466 per pound at current exchange rates.

This week we look at sales, tax revenue, and market dynamics in Quebec in the province’s first fiscal year of legal cannabis.

Quebec is the only large Canadian province that has kept a tight grip over cannabis sales, with its primary goal of ensuring safe consumption while minimizing the illicit market. The Quebec government mandated the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) to set up the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) to bring legal cannabis to the market. Similar to Oregon and Washington State in the U.S., the province’s regulatory body overseeing alcohol was expanded to provide oversight of cannabis as well. The SQDC was established on June 12, 2018, ahead of legalization. Its first fiscal year of operation ended on March 30, 2019.

SQDC launched an online store and 12 brick and mortar locations in Quebec starting in October. With supply challenges looming at the onset of legalization, the SQDC dramatically cut store hours and slowed expansion plans. Since then the supply issues have been overcome and stores are now open seven days a week with a 13th store opened in March. The Crown corporation signed leases for three more locations in Montreal, the Laurentians, and the Montérégie.

SQDC reported robust sales figures despite some issues upfront. A total of C$71M in sales were tallied in the first fiscal year that ended at the close of March, with in-store sales making up roughly 81% of the sales and volume sold. The 12 locations also processed approximately 1.3M transactions with an average spend of C$51.07. Online sales were not as robust with 257,000 transactions that generated an average spend of C$61.06.

For this past fiscal year, the SQDC reported a balanced year when excluding C$4.9M of non-recurring start-up costs. The Quebec government received C$29.7M in consumption and excise taxes from this new industry. For the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the SQDC is projecting significantly higher earnings of C$20M with the province taking in C$89M in consumption and excise taxes.

*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..