Consumers in Canada spent 1.3% more on legal recreational cannabis in April compared to March, for total monthly sales worth 411.7 million Canadian dollars ($313 million).
April was one day shorter than March, so adjusted for the number of days per month, cannabis sales increased by 4.7% from March to April.
On a year-over-year basis, cannabis sales grew 10.3% compared to April 2022, according to retail data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada.
March sales of legal adult-use cannabis were revised upward slightly to CA$406.4 million, from the previously reported figure of CA$405.5 million.
Canada’s monthly increase in consumer cannabis spending was led by the westernmost province of British Columbia, Canada’s third-most valuable marijuana market after Ontario and Alberta.
B.C. cannabis sales increased 8.7% on a month-over-month basis to CA$68.5 million.
Sales trends were mixed in the remaining nine provinces, with monthly cannabis sales and month-over-month changes as follows:
- Ontario: CA$161.2 million (+1.5%).
- Alberta: CA$72.6 million (+0.4%).
- Quebec: CA$48.6 million (-4.2%).
- Saskatchewan: CA$19 million (+1.3%).
- Manitoba: CA$15.9 million (-1.1%).
- Nova Scotia: CA$9.1 million (-3.9%).
- New Brunswick: CA$6.8 million (-1.7%).
- Newfoundland: CA$6 million (-3.7%).
- Prince Edward Island: CA$1.9 million (-2.1%).
Cannabis sales in Yukon territory were flat at CA$925,000.
Sales for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut were not reported by Statistics Canada.
Canadian recreational cannabis sales have totaled nearly CA$1.6 billion from January through April of this year.
Last year’s sales reached more than CA$4.5 billion, a 17.9% increase over 2021.