January’s retail cannabis sales hit $395.51 million, down 7.1% from December’s record retail sales of $425.87 million. Canadian cannabis sales grew 14.1% on an annual basis from January 2022 and Canadians spent $4.5 billion on legal recreational cannabis in 2022.
Every province and the Yukon saw a decline in sales from December to January with the exception of Saskatchewan, where sales grew 12.6% from $16.97 million to $19.11 million.
Prairies
Alberta saw a small drop in sales from December to January, down 5% from $73.78 million to $69.52 million. Calgary and Edmonton saw similar drops in sales of 4.4% and 7.8%, respectively. Edmonton continues to eclipse Calgary’s sales at $23.29 million versus Calgary’s $19.44 million.
Alberta has seen the number of stores in the province decline since September as stores are shuttering due to oversaturation in key markets.
Manitoba sales dropped by 8% to $16.84 million. Winnipeg saw a similar drop of 8.2% for $10.72 million. As mentioned, Saskatchewan saw the only increase in sales this month.
Ontario
The country’s biggest province saw a decline in retail sales of 9.5% from $171.17 million to $154.96 million. Toronto and Ottawa both saw drops in sales of 9.5% to $49.60 and $15.49 million, respectively.
Ontario is currently home to 1,718 cannabis retail stores with an additional 247 license applications under review or in the public notice period. The number of stores seems to be starting to settle, but there is some question whether larger municipalities like Toronto have reached a saturation point.
Quebec
Sales in this government-run province declined 9.3% to $49.52 million. Montreal and Quebec City saw substantial drops in sales. Montreal declined by 30% to $20.77 million, while Quebec City declined by 34% to $3.3 million. Gatineau saw a small drop of 17% to $1.2 million.
The province continues to open stores at a much slower pace than provinces with privately-run cannabis retail. There were only stores 92 operating in December.
British Columbia
British Columbia saw a small decline in sales of 3.9% for $60.63 million. Vancouver saw a similar drop of 3.4% to $19.88 million.
As of March 20, 2023, there were 504 stores in the province, up from the 470 stores as of December 31, 2022.
Maritimes
Despite strong third quarters, all of the Maritimes provinces saw a decline in sales.
Newfoundland & Labrador saw the smallest decline in sales, dropping 6.1% to $6 million. Nova Scotia sales were down 9.2% to $9 million, while Prince Edward Island’s sales dropped 11.6% to $1.7 million and New Brunswick’s sales went down 14.8% to $6.5 million.
Provincial Sales (x1,000)
Canada $395,506 (-7.13%)
Newfoundland & Labrador $6,013 (-6.09%)
Prince Edward Island $1,740 (-11.63%)
Nova Scotia $9,030 (-9.19%)
New Brunswick $6,508 (-14.81%)
Quebec $49,522 (-9.27%)
Montreal $20,767 (-30%)
Quebec City $3,301 (-34%)
Gatineau $1,230 (-16.89%)
Ontario $154,958 (-9.47%)
Toronto $49,596 (-9.47%)
Ottawa $15,494 (-9.47%)
Manitoba $16,837 (-8.04%)
Winnipeg $10,724 (-8.23%)
Saskatchewan $19,114 (+12.62%)
Alberta $69,523 (-5.73%)
Calgary $19,442 (-4.38%)
Edmonton $23,294 (-7.81%)
British Columbia $60,629 (-3.87%)
Vancouver $19,881 (-3.43%)
Yukon $843 (-12.73%)
Source: Statistics Canada