John Schroyer
Retail cannabis sales in Canada took a noticeable dip in November last year, but overall the market is still on the upswing from 2021 sales figures, according to national data released Friday by the federal government.
Sales were down in November to C$373 million (US$278 million) from C$390 million in October, Statistics Canada reported, which equates to a monthly dip of 4.4%. But sales were still up almost 10% from the same month in 2021, when the national industry sold roughly C$340 million in cannabis.
The sales dip held true nationally in every province except Newfoundland and Labrador, where sales stayed essentially flat at C$5.6 million. The decrease was most pronounced in Ontario, where sales went down by C$6.5 million, and British Columbia, where sales decreased by C$2.4 million.
Also noticeable was the year-over-year increase in sales across provinces, with the exception of Quebec, which stayed roughly flat at C$48 million in sales.
Ontario sales were up year-over-year by 9%, to C$147 million from C$134 million. And British Columbia sales were up year-over-year by 17%, to C$55 million from C$47 million.
New Cannabis Ventures analyst Alan Brochstein attributed the annual sales increase to "an increase in the number of stores as well as falling flower prices," which has been able to lure increasingly more customers away from the underground marijuana market.
