For the first time ever, more Canadians bought cannabis from legal sources than from the illicit market.
According to newly released data by Statistics Canada, Canadian households spent a total of $648 million on recreational cannabis during the second quarter of 2020. Add that to the $155 million spent on medical cannabis and you get a whopping $803 million in legal cannabis sales. StatsCan reported that the illicit market earned $785 million, showing that Canadians are finally spending more on legal cannabis than illegal product. Illicit cannabis now makes up 49.5% of Canadian cannabis sales, down 15.5% from this time last year, when it commanded 65% of the market.
549 cannabis stores have opened in the last year bringing the total to 1130 stores as of the August 30th. With this influx of retail locations comes greater access to cannabis, making consumers more likely to purchase from legal retailers. We can only expect the scales to continue to tip towards the legal side, as more retail stores continue to open across Canada.