Canadians bought 3.1 billion euros worth of «recreational» cannabis in 2022

The retail cannabis sales in Canada reached a new monthly record in December, totalling more than 295 million euros nationwide.

Sales eclipsed the previous monthly record of 273 million euros and were up by almost 14 1TP3Q on November's total sales of 260 million euros, according to latest figures from Statistics Canada in Canadian dollars.

Ontario, which now boasts over 1,600 retail stores, recorded sales of over 118 million euros, an increase of 35 % year-on-year. It is followed by Alberta, with sales of 51.3 million euros, and British Columbia, with 43.8 million euros.

For the year, total sales exceeded 4.5 billion Canadian dollars (3.1 billion euros) nationwide, an increase of almost 18 % over the previous year.

Ontario, engine of the cannabis economy

In October, the’Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) released its latest quarterly report for fiscal 2021-22, which runs from January 1 to March 31, 2022, and noted that the pace of retail store openings had slowed compared to the previous quarter.

There were approximately 1,500 stores open at the end of the fourth quarter, with stores operating in 233 municipalities across the province. According to the report, the average Ontarian lives within 4 kilometers of a cannabis retail store.

This is despite the fact that a number of major cities, including Mississauga and its nearly 900,000 residents, prohibit cannabis retailers from operating. The city is one of 66 municipalities in Ontario that have chosen not to sell retail cannabis, but that could soon change.

Earlier this month, the Toronto Sun a reported that a city councillor had asked the city to submit a report on lifting the ban. Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie also said she would vote in favor of opening up cannabis sales in Mississauga, as she has in the past.

While the city has no retail outlets, neighboring Toronto has over 400.

According to the OCS report, more than 96 % of the quarter's sales were made in brick-and-mortar, with the remainder of sales taking place online. Dried flowers accounted for around 50 % of total sales, followed by pre-rolls (15 %), vapes (16 %) and edibles and concentrates (5 % each).

At the time of publication, the province's leading retailers by number of stores were Tokyo Smoke (60), Spiritleaf (43), Sessions (42), Fire & Flower (37) and True North (36).

A report published last May revealed that Ontario could accommodate around 2,000 cannabis stores to reach its «optimal level».