Ontario Legal Cannabis Sales Surpass Illegal Sales
Over a year after the legal cannabis market in Canada outpaced illegal sales, Ontario legal cannabis sales have finally done the same. The Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) said that 54.2 per cent of the cannabis sales in the province between July and September were linked to legal cannabis retailers.
“When it comes to the unregulated market, (sales) are a difficult number to pinpoint,” said Jennawae McLean, the co-founder of Calyx + Trichomes, a cannabis store chain in Kingston, Ont. “But assuming the reporting is true, it’s not hard to believe. The number of stores in Ontario has grown exponentially over the last … two years. It’s really just completely exploded.”
According to the Canadian Press, Ontario now has 1,115 legal retail cannabis outlets, compared to 183 at the same time last year and 53 two years ago. Percentage of legal cannabis sales during that time went from 5.4 per cent when recreational cannabis was legalized to 19 per cent at the end of 2019 to 44.1 per cent at the end of last year.
Accessibility isn’t the only factor to the rise in Ontario legal cannabis sales. McLean said that legal cannabis has opened whole new worlds to long-time cannabis users.
“I was working at one of my stores, and I had this guy come in. He was overwhelmed with the size of our menu, which, to be fair, is 27-pages long,” she said. “He had no idea where to even start and he said that was because since he started smoking cannabis, he got it from a guy and didn’t know what it was or what was available.”
Ontario Legal Cannabis Sales a Long Time Coming – LPC
The rise in Ontario legal cannabis sales has been a long time coming. Ontario is by far Canada’s most populous province with about 40 per cent of the population. However, the slow start of its retail cannabis market meant that legal cannabis got a foothold in other provinces faster.
Ironically, it was Ontario that helped Canada surpass the illegal cannabis sales in September 2020 and post record legal cannabis sales in the summer of that year.
However, many have openly wondered if Ontario is killing legal cannabis. They point to the government-run OCS as undercutting private retailers and “pay to play” practices that are affecting small cannabis growers.
Further, Ontario legal cannabis sales are not available everywhere in the province. Most notably, Mississauga has declared there will be no legal cannabis outlets in the city. Part of the argument is that they can simply go next door to Toronto for legal sales. However, Mississauga is almost a case study in itself. Legal cannabis sales disrupt the illegal market, but that illegal market is flourishing in Canada’s sixth-largest city.
Many call on Canada in general to loosen cannabis rules. Things are changing. Private cannabis stores are coming to New Brunswick. Modified versions of cannabis cafés are popping up around Ontario. Cannabis convenience stores are coming to Alberta.
But the over-riding view is that cannabis is over-regulated and needs to open up more in order to better compete against the illegal cannabis market.
The cannabis industry in Ontario and in Canada in general is still undergoing growing pains. But news that Ontario legal cannabis sales have finally surpassed illegal sales can only be seen as encouraging.
Read the full Canadian Press story at CP24
ADD YOUR STORY HERE
Do you have a business in Canada’s legal cannabis market? Are you a craft cannabis producer or own a chain or independent cannabis retail store? Let’s tell your story here! A news article and your approved listing page make great ways to connect your brand with a qualified audience looking for what you are offering. Learn more about submitting your article to LPC.
