The first year of marijuana legalization in Canada led to almost a billion dollars in sales.
Statistics Canada reported on Wednesday that more than 400 legal brick-and-mortar cannabis stores opened and $908 million was generated in online and in-store sales in the first 12 months of legalization.
Retails sales of cannabis in Ontario jumped significantly in April 2019 with the introduction of its first brick-and-mortar stores. The figures suggested Ontario cannabis retailers led sales at the provincial level with $217 million from October 2018 to September 2019, followed by Alberta ($196 million) and Quebec ($195 million). In contrast, British Columbia reported relatively low total sales at cannabis stores with just $50 million in sales and the lowest sales per capita values in the country.
"A variety of factors may influence access to cannabis in a given region, including the competition from illegal markets," Statistics Canada said.
Regulatory influences such as minimum age and lower possession limits are also being cited as reasons for lower sales.
The report showed the total number of cannabis retail stores in Canada rose by 88 per cent from 217 in March of 2019 to 407 in July 2019. Alberta has opened the most cannabis stores since legalization, increasing by 101 to a total of 176 cannabis outlets province-wide as of July. British Columbia has the second-highest number of stores in the country, going from 16 to 57 between March and July.
"As the industry establishes itself and the market develops, Canadians' access to cannabis retailers is increasing," the Statistics Canada report said.
The data suggested online sales were relatively stable over the first year, but the share of online sales from cannabis stores fell drastically because of the increase in the number of cannabis retail shops. Online sales represented 13.3 per cent of total sales from cannabis stores since legalization. Direct-to-consumer trade by wholesalers accounted for 1.9 per cent of total cannabis-related retail activity since October 2018.
The numbers showed that 33 per cent of Ontarians lived within 10 kilometres of a cannabis store in July of 2019, due to the later roll-out of the province's private retail outlets. Statistics Canada also said that, as of July 2019, 45 per cent of Canadians lived within 10 kilometres of a cannabis store, 30 per cent lived within five kilometres, and 19 per cent lived within three kilometres.