Canada Cannabis Spot Index (CCSI)
Week Ending October 15, 2021
*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$5.10 per gram this week, down 0.3% from last week’s C$5.12 per gram. This week’s price equates to US$1,859 per pound at the current exchange rate.
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This week we re-examine the number of cultivators in Canada’s market, which shows a steady growth trend for both standard and micro-cultivation licenses. As a reminder, the standard license has no size limit on the growing area for the facility, while a micro-cultivator is limited to 200 square meters (about 2,150 square feet) of growing area. Micro-cultivators are likely to focus on quality over quantity, with these smaller growers typically concentrating on unique strains to differentiate their product and receive a premium price.
Regardless of type, Health Canada takes a uniform approach in reviewing cultivation applications. The completed form requires municipal permits, property details and layouts, executive team security clearances, approvals from local fire and police associations, and much more. The average time to receive a license takes anywhere from three to nine months, depending on the completeness of the application.
Health Canada shows there are currently 646 active cultivation licenses split amongst standard and micro-cultivation grow operations. A little under two-thirds of the licenses are standard licenses.
As illustrated in the chart below, the micro-cultivation license is a relatively new phenomenon that started in early 2020.
Lastly, we break down the licenses by provinces. Ontario, with its sizable population, and British Columbia, with its favorable climate, have seen the largest numbers of licensed cultivators. We should note that at the moment not all licensees are operational. However, if each license holder builds out their cultivation facility and begins production, we expect Canada’s production capacity will continue to outstrip domestic demand.
Cannabis Benchmarks has a complete, cleaned-up list of Health Canada licensed cultivation operations showing the name, type of operation, issue date, and the products authorized to sell.