July 2021 was a good month for the cannabis retail industry, at least according to the numbers. Statistics Canada’s monthly retail sales numbers showed a whopping 6.18% increase in overall sales. Compared to previous months, which only saw increases of just over 2%, the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions and nice, sunny weather must have contributed to the success of retailers in July, as every single province saw positive growth in sales. While nationwide sales grew more than 6% from $319.1 million to $338.8 million between June and July, many provinces saw similar, or larger, increases.
Atlantic Canada
Retail sales in New Brunswick continue to rise, from $6.5 million to $7.3 million, indicating positive growth of 11.2% compared to the month before. Cannabis NB, now feeling secure in its position, has been having fun with promotions and New Brunswickers seem to enjoy supporting local producers.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s sales grew considerably as well, 8.45% from $4.89 million to $5.3 million. Similarly, Nova Scotia reported a 6.87% increase.
Eastern Canada
With a store count that remains fairly stationary, Quebec’s sales generally do the same, however, in July the province saw an increase of 5.86%, its sales growing from $49.2 million to $52.1 million. Of the three cities we have data on—Montréal, Quebec City, and Gatineau—Montréal saw the largest increase in sales, pulling in $25.9 million, 4.55% more than the previous month.
Ontario saw a similar increase to Quebec but is working with a larger total. Monthly cannabis retail sales in Ontario grew 5.48% in July 2021, from just over $120 million to $126.6 million as store numbers climbed. Between Toronto and Ottawa, the latter saw an incredible 10.91% growth in sales, climbing from just over $12 million in June to $13.3 million in July. Toronto saw a modest increase of 3.5%, just surpassing $45 million.
Western Canada
Of the Prairie provinces, Manitoba retailers’ coffers saw the largest swell, increasing 7.4% from $11.9 million to $12.8 million. British Columbia, however, had them all beat with 9.4% growth in July, increasing from $44.8 million to $48.5 million. This increase is likely due to the province allowing cannabis retailers to offer home delivery, which came into effect July 15, in addition to more and more Vancouver municipalities giving cannabis retail a try. In fact, sales in Vancouver grew 5.56%, surpassing $15 million in July.
This monumental growth even sparked publicly traded cannabis stocks to increase in value, and analysts are predicting that cannabis retail could one day bring in upwards of $1 billion per month. While we’re not quite there yet, it still seems like a lofty goal to reach, despite the month-over-month growth we are seeing as the industry matures.
Monthly Cannabis Retail Sales – July 2021 (x1000)
Canada: $338,875
Newfoundland-Labrador: $5,313
Prince Edward Island: x
Nova Scotia: $8,753
New Brunswick: $7,308
Quebec: $52,101
-Montréal, Quebec: $25,962
-Quebec, Quebec: $5,990
-Gatineau, Quebec: $1,490
Ontario: $126,674
-Toronto, Ontario: $45,214
-Ottawa, Ontario: $13,398
Manitoba: $12,822
-Winnipeg, Manitoba: $8,695
Saskatchewan: $13,223
Alberta: $60,687
-Calgary, Alberta: $16,435
-Edmonton, Alberta: $20,832
British Columbia: $48,515
Vancouver, BC: $15,030
Yukon: x
Northwest Territories: x
Nunavut: x