Canada Cannabis Spot Index (CCSI) 

Week Ending October 22, 2021

CCSI image 1 2021-10-22

*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$5.15 per gram this week, up 1.0% from last week’s C$5.10 per gram. This week’s price equates to US$1,890 per pound at the current exchange rate.

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This week we examine the number of cannabis processing licenses issued in Canada. This data comes from the same data set we looked at last week, which showed the number of cultivation licenses that have been issued. As with the cultivation licenses, we see a steady growth trend for both standard and micro-processing licenses. As a reminder, a standard processor has no production limits, while a micro-processor can process up to 600 kilograms of dried cannabis in a calendar year. If a micro-processing licence holder also holds a micro-cultivation licence for the same site, the processing limitation does not apply since the license holder will be processing cannabis plant material from its own integrated grow operation.

Regardless of processing license type, Health Canada takes a uniform approach in reviewing the applications. As a prerequisite, the applicant must have a production-ready facility prior to submitting a license application. The application has numerous requirements, including municipal permits, property details and layouts, executive team security clearances, and approvals from local fire and police departments. 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 448 active processing licenses split amongst standard and micro operations. A little under one-fifth of the licenses are micro-processing licenses. As with the cultivation licenses, we do not believe most of the licensees are operational.

SOURCE: Cannabis Benchmarks, Health Canada

As illustrated in the chart below, the micro-processing license is a relatively new phenomenon that really kicked off last year.

SOURCE: Cannabis Benchmarks, Health Canada

Lastly, we break down the licenses by province. This looks very similar to the provincial distribution of cultivation licenses, as most processing facilities are being built alongside cultivation sites.

SOURCE: Cannabis Benchmarks, Health Canada

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. Email us to get the complete list.