Canada: legal cannabis industry generates €2.57 billion over 12 months

Canada's legal cannabis industry contributed 3.96 billion $CAN (€2.57 billion) to Canada's GDP over the past 12 months, according to the latest official figures.

This represents an increase of 215% since the legalization of cannabis in October 2018. The illicit market would represent 4.13 billion $CAN, a drop of around 21% since October 2018. The total cannabis market would thus generate around 8.16 billion $CAN for the country's economy.

According to official data, 16.7% of Canadians have used cannabis in the last three months. In total, this represents around five million people, a figure unchanged from pre-legalization statistics.

In February, Canada reported that cannabis tax revenues totaled 18 million $CAN in Canada's first full year of legalization, below the $35 million forecast by government estimates. The shortfall has prompted officials to cut their forecast for cannabis-related revenue this year from $100 million to $66 million. Authorities are still betting on cannabis tax revenues to reach $135 million next year and $220 million by 2023.

The cannabis industry in Canada also saw the number of jobs almost quadruple from 2018 to 2019, from 2,630 jobs to 9,200 jobs, according to Statistics Canada figures. In 2017, the industry employed around 1,438 people.

Statistics Canada figures for August 2019 revealed that 42.7% of Canadian consumers were still obtaining certain cannabis products illegally.

Cannabis companies reported to Statistics Canada that, although their revenues increased by 92% in fiscal 2018 and by 52% in April 2019, all companies reported overall losses.