Various levels of the Canadian government collected more than 1.5 billion Canadian dollars ($1.12 billion) in cannabis profit and tax revenue in fiscal 2021-22, according to recently released data by Statistics Canada.
For the financial year ended in March 2022, total net income from province-owned cannabis businesses, plus total taxes and other revenue, equaled CA$1.55 billion.
The data isn’t available for other years.
MJBizDaily previously reported that Canada’s federal government has assessed more than CA$1 billion in total duty on cannabis products between 2018 – when adult-use sales launched – and 2022, according to the latest federal data.
Private businesses say they’re struggling to stay afloat due to excessive taxation, as the regulated cannabis industry adds billions of dollars to government coffers.
The total duty assessed by the Canada Revenue Agency swelled to CA$752.5 million in 2021-22, up 46% from the 2020-2021 fiscal year, when the federal government pulled in CA$514 million.
About three-quarters of the excise taxes applied by the federal government on cannabis sales are shared with provinces and territories.
In the 2021-22 financial year, Statistics Canada says provincial cannabis authorities, or wholesalers, pulled in CA$3.1 billion in sales.
Cannabis authority profits totaled CA$332.3 million that year.
Other tax revenue from cannabis sales were:
- Harmonized sales tax: CA$236.1 million.
- Goods and services tax: CA$110.7 million.
- Provincial/territorial sales tax: CA$110.8 million.
- Other provincial/territorial revenue: CA$9.8 million.
