Month after month, cannabis retail sales continue to climb in Canada, but in August 2021 sales totalled $356.9 million, breeching $350 million for the first time ever, increasing 5.33% over July’s $338.8 million.
No Major Losses
According to Statistics Canada numbers released on Friday, the majority of provinces saw either modest increases or insignificant decreases. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick held fairly steady compared to July, with sales only decreasing around 1.6% for each. With fairly static store numbers, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have some of the highest average sales per store at $269,218 and $359,600, respectively, per month. Newfoundland and Labrador saw a mild increase of 3.73%, rising to $5.5 million.
Alberta, however, saw sales decrease less than 1% to $60.48 million in August, but with an increase in licensees, each store stands to make just over $89,000 per month, on average, compared to just over $95,000 the month before.
Quebec, the reigning champion when it comes to sales per store at $696,173 each, held steady with $52.2 million, increasing less than 1% from the month before. Sales in Montreal and Quebec City didn’t waver much, however, Gatineau saw a 13.96% increase from $1.49 million to $1.69 million.
Big Winners
While many held the course, a few cities and provinces had a stand-out month in August 2021.
Sales in Ontario, as usual, continue to climb as more licenses are approved and stores are opened, earning $139.2 million, representing a 9.92% increase. By the end of July 2021, there were 961 stores in the province, putting the average sales per store around $145,000—even lower by the end of the month, as more stores take more share of the market.
Manitoba saw the largest increase compared to the other provinces at 11.3%, bringing sales up to nearly $14.3 million. Winnipeg saw an even larger increase as more stores moved in, growing 13.33% to nearly $9.97 million. Will September see the Gateway to the West surpass $10 million in sales?
The biggest winner in August was Vancouver, where sales boomed 20.89% from just under $14.8 million to $17.8 million. British Columbia saw a nice boost as well, with sales growing 7.19% to $52.3 million. This could have something to do with more Vancouver municipalities allowing cannabis retail, as well as the province allowing delivery by retailers.
Monthly Cannabis Retail Sales – August 2021
Canada: $356,943,000
Newfoundland-Labrador: $5,511,000
Prince Edward Island: x
Nova Scotia: $8,615,000
New Brunswick: $7,192,000
Quebec: $52,213,000
-Montréal, Quebec: $26,443,000
-Quebec, Quebec: $5,898,000
-Gatineau, Quebec: $1,698,000
Ontario: $139,245,000
-Toronto, Ontario: $46,657,000
-Ottawa, Ontario: $14,066,000
Manitoba: $14,278,000
-Winnipeg, Manitoba: $9,973,000
Saskatchewan: $13,422,000
Alberta: $60,481,000
-Calgary, Alberta: $16,604,000
-Edmonton, Alberta: $20,696,000
British Columbia: $52,266,000
-Vancouver, BC: $17,853,000
Yukon: x
Northwest Territories: x
Nunavut: x