Canada Cannabis Spot Index (CCSI) 

Published March 8, 2019

The CCSI once again moved higher this week with a 3.4% gain to C$7.10 per gram, from last week’s C$6.87 per gram. The index is steadily moving higher from a low of C$6.04 hit during the week ending February 15. This week’s price of C$7.10 per gram equates to US$2,412 per pound at current exchange rates.

This week we provide an update on the monthly retail sales by province and territory data released by Statistics Canada. This published dataset now gives us a full glimpse into a complete quarter of post-legalization sales from both the provincial online stores and brick & mortar shops. The initial revenue figures for Q4 2018 are relatively low. December sales across Canada totaled C$55.2M, up 2% over the previous month.

Source: Cannabis Benchmarks, Statistics Canada [Table  20-10-0008-01]

A closer look into sales from individual provinces provides more perspective on the current purchasing habits of consumers according to their jurisdiction. British Columbia’s (BC’s) December revenues were remarkably low, with total retail sales tallying only C$1.24M. This despite BC being the third largest province by population, although it is possible that it is also home to Canada’s most established illicit market.

Ontario’s December sales are similarly disproportionate to its population size. Ontario is home to 38% of the total Canadian population, but sales from November to December dropped by a staggering 14% to C$8.72M, 16% of the nationwide total.

The two noteworthy positive highlights were December sales growth in Alberta and Saskatchewan, which saw increases in retail revenues of 12% and 5%, respectively.