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Canadian cannabis sales reach all-time high in April

Retail sales top more than $372 million countrywide.
Author of the article: Sam Riches

Publishing date: Jun 23, 2022  - Last Updated June 23, 2022  -  2 minute read

Canadian retail cannabis sales set a new monthly record sales
record in April, reaching $372.4 million.

Released by Statistics Canada, the latest figures mark a near
four per cent increase from March, when sales were $359
million, and about a 15 per cent increase from February, when
sales dipped to $324 million, according to revised numbers from
the federal agency.

Ontario, now home to more than 1,500 dispensaries, led the
country with more than $150 million in sales. Alberta posted
just under $65 million in sales, while B.C. recorded slightly
less than $53 million to round out the top three.

B.C. and P.E.I. were the only provinces to post a month-over-
month decrease, with sales dipping from $56 million in B.C. in
March.

P.E.I., meanwhile, saw a slight reduction, recording $1.75
million in sales in April, down from $1.76 million in March.

Quebec posted just over $50 million in sales. The figures will
likely look different next month, as more than 300 union
members of the Soci‚t‚ qu‚b‚coise du cannabis (SQDC) began a
general strike in May.

Union members are calling for salaries and benefits similar to
those working in other comparable provincial corporations,
including the Quebec Liquor Corp. (SAQ).

"These SQDC workers barely earn $17/hour upon hiring and the
majority have no full-time position or job security, which puts
them in an untenable precarious position," the Canadian Union
of Public Employees noted in a statement last month.

A recent report from Connecticut-based data firm Cannabis
Benchmarks found that Quebec, where the government-owned SQDC
has a monopoly on recreational sales, is the country's "biggest
laggard" when it comes to cannabis retail.

As of April, there were 88 SQDC retail cannabis stores
operating in the province. The report found that the "optimal"
number of retail stores is more than 1,100.

The report also noted that Ontario could support nearly 500
more stores to reach its "optimal level."

Alberta, meanwhile, was the only province cited in the report
to have more cannabis stores than needed.

"We expect the number of stores in Alberta to decline over the
next 24 months, as competition intensifies and store economics
become less favourable," the report stated.

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