Cannabis gives British Columbia farm sales CA$300 million boost in 2019

Farm cash receipts in British Columbia hit a record high in 2019, boosted by an increase of nearly 300 million Canadian dollars ($221 million) in cannabis sales.

The annual growth in cannabis cash receipts in British Columbia far outpaced growth in other agricultural sectors such as dairy (CA$47 million), beef (CA$25 million) and field vegetables (CA$17.5 million), the provincial government reported Tuesday.

Total farm cash receipts for the province in 2019 reached CA$3.9 billion, an increase of CA$462 million over 2018.

The West Coast province is home to 99 of Canada’s 423 cannabis licenses for growing, processing or selling marijuana, according to Canada’s cannabis license registry.

On a national level, Canada’s total cash farm receipts grew by nearly 6% in 2019, rising to CA$66.1 billion. Crop receipts increased by 3.9% on an annual basis to reach CA$36.6 billion.

National cannabis crop receipts were CA$2.3 billion in 2019, an annual increase of more than 300% during the country’s first full year of recreational marijuana legalization.