*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 came in at C$6.81 per gram this week, from last week’s C$7.96 per gram. This week’s price equates to US$2,301 per pound at current exchange rates.

The AGLC, the Government of Alberta’s Crown agency that oversees the gaming, liquor and cannabis industries in Alberta, lifted the province’s retail cannabis license moratorium. The bulletin, which was published on May 30th, indicated that with the “steady increase” in supply the AGLC is once again in a position to issue five licences a week. AGLC currently has contracts with 26 licensed producers (LPs) and 111 licensed retail outlets.

Alberta is the fourth largest province with approximately 553,000 cannabis users according to a survey conducted by Statistics Canada. Statistics Canada also reports on retail sales for each province. With the limited supply of retail outlets, retail sales in Alberta have flatlined through Q1 2019 at approximately C$450,000 per day. The addition of new storefronts should help the development of the legal cannabis market by providing convenient access to customers that currently purchase from the illicit market.

Cannabis Benchmarks also analyzed the state of the AGLC-run online store. The online store shows 76% of 249 dried flower products available, 49% of 53 pre-rolled products available, and 85% of the oils available.

After taking this step forward to provide additional access to the cannabis industry, AGLS plans to closely monitor supply to ensure that existing and new retailers have access to consistent deliveries of product.