Canadian recreational cannabis sales were worth 5.07 billion Canadian dollars (US$3.8 billion) in 2023, an increase of 12% compared to 2022, according to government retail sales data released last week.
Despite the increase over 2022 sales, this year-over-year retail trend marks a slowing growth rate for Canadian marijuana sales as the market matures, as stated in MJBiz Daily. Statistics Canada reported that recreational cannabis sales increased by nearly 18% in 2022 compared to 2021, reaching roughly CA$4.5 billion.
This doesn’t necessarily mean bad news, though. Since adult-use cannabis was legalized in 2018, this slow growth could simply mean that the market is stabilizing after consumers initially transitioned from illicit sales to legal sales.
Canadian Cannabis Sales by Province and Territory
Out of all the provinces and territories, Ontario saw the most recreational marijuana sales in 2023. Coming in second was Alberta, followed very closely behind by British Columbia.
MJBiz Daily also reported that the pre-roll market gained exceptional growth in sales. In 2023, pre-rolls captured 31.4% of total sales, an increase of 19% over the previous year. Flower remains the most popular product category across Canada.
