Provincial Updates

Ontario

In February, following the completion of industry-wide consultations, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has implemented certain updates to the Registrar’s Standards for Ontario’s Cannabis Retail Stores that clarify the AGCO’s limitations on “inducements” between licensed producers (LPs) and licensed cannabis retailers. Please consult the AGCO’s website for more information.

Quebec

The Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) had total sales of $190.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2021-2022, a $17.5 million increase from the third quarter of its preceding fiscal year. This allowed the company to report net income of $26.4 million, compared with $23.3 million in the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2020-2021. For the period from September 12, 2021, to January 1, 2022, sales totalled $190.5 million. For their part, online sales reached 1,736 kg of cannabis for total dollar sales of $9.6 million, with 117,554 transactions being completed. The store network sold 32,846 kg of cannabis for dollar sales totalling $180.9 million.

Manitoba

Organigram Inc., a leading licensed producer of cannabis, launched of its social impact strategy ‘Organigram Operating for Good’ with the purpose of ‘Building healthy communities where we live and work.’ As part of this strategy, the Company has committed to giving back by joining the Pledge 1% Movement. Organigram has pledged ‘1% of Time’, which means the Company will be donating 1% of its employees’ time to local volunteer programs across its employees in New Brunswick, Quebec and Manitoba.

Saskatchewan

A woman charged with driving while impaired by THC causing the death of a girl is the first person in Saskatchewan to face this type of charge. On Sept. 9, 2021, nine-year-old Baeleigh Maurice was crossing a marked crosswalk on her scooter on 33rd Street West when she was hit by a truck. The driver, a then 27-year-old woman, has been charged with “impaired operation while exceeding the prescribed blood-drug concentration of THC causing death.” While charges involving alcohol as an impairment have been laid in the past, Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Justice says this is the first cannabis impairment causing death charge laid since the new federal cannabis legislation came into force in 2019.

Alberta

In March, private cannabis retailers began online sales to customers. The Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) exited the digital market after the provincial government made the legal change last year. Cannabis retailers must have an endorsement to their license from AGLC for online sales, and these stores must also have a physical retail store in order to get the license. In a statement, the AGLC said it is also businesses’ responsibility to ensure “age-gating” is in place, a process that needs to go beyond requiring a potential customer to enter a date of birth before gaining access to the website.

The AGLC also introduced a 6% markup to the wholesale price of cannabis products late in February.

British Columbia

In March, cannabis retailer Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. said its subsidiary Pineapple Express Delivery Inc. will start to offer next-day delivery to the provincially-run cannabis stores. The partnership comes after Pineapple Express won a request-for-proposal process with the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch.

The B.C. Chamber of Commerce wants the provincial government to work with federal authorities to revamp the national excise tax for cannabis producers, which the organization says applies a financial burden to both cultivators and consumers. It also made 12 other policy recommendations in its report, which aims to help grow the legal cannabis industry, improve economic competitiveness and diversify the economy.

Prince Edward Island

January sales totalled CA$1.8 million in Canada’s smallest province, Prince Edward Island.

Nova Scotia

In early February, Auxly Cannabis Group Inc., a leading consumer packaged goods company in the cannabis products market, announced that the company has closed its Robinsons cultivation facilities located in Kentville and Hortonville, Nova Scotia, as the Company continues to focus its efforts on streamlining and simplifying its cultivation platform, reducing costs and achieving its goal of becoming adjusted EBITDA positive by the first half of this year.

Newfoundland & Labrador

Third-quarter financial results for the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation (NLC) show net earnings fell 2.2% compared with the same period in 2021. The NLC reported a total of $57.6 million in net earnings for the third quarter of 2020, down $1.3 million compared with Q3 2021. However, the Crown corporation reported that year-to-date net earnings have been 4.8 million higher than in the same period in 2021 to the tune of $166.6 million, representing a 3% increase. Cannabis sales in Q3 jumped by 2.3% compared to 2021, with a total retail sales figure of $14.2 million.

New Brunswick

In late January, Cannabis NB released its unaudited third quarter results for the 2021-2022 fiscal. Total sales of legal recreational cannabis for the quarter ended December 26, 2021 (13 weeks) were $20.6 million, 6.7% higher than the quarter ended December 27, 2020 (13 weeks). Net income for the quarter ended December 26, 2021, was $3.9 million, an improvement of 41.8% compared with the prior year’s third quarter net income of $2.8 million. Key trends for the third quarter (September 27, 2021 – December 26, 2021) compared to the third quarter of last year (September 28, 2020 – December 27, 2020) were online sales decreased to 1.0% of sales for the quarter, down 0.6% over prior year, in store sales increased to 99% of sales for the quarter, from 98.4 per cent last year and dried flower sales decreased 2.7%, down by $0.3 million.

Yukon / Northwest Territories / Nunavut

As of October 18, 2021, all qualified designated retail cannabis vendors are eligible to operate an online store to serve NWT customers. The establishment of online stores is allowed under the Cannabis Products Act and Regulations, and existing contracts with the designated vendors were amended. All vendors that are authorized to sell and ship cannabis products to NWT residents must adhere to the rules set out in the Cannabis Products Act, and Regulation. / Sales of cannabis products in the Northwest Territories have nearly tripled in just three years, according to data from the Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission (NWTLCC). The NWTLCC publishes quarterly reports on the sale of liquor and cannabis in the territory. In the first quarter of 2018, NWT residents bought about $688,000 worth of cannabis products. By the last quarter of 2021, that figure had risen to nearly $1.9 million. Dried cannabis continues to account for the bulk of sales. In the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, dried cannabis generated $4.1 million — or about 77% — of all sales. Inhaled cannabis extracts were also popular, accounting for about $774,000, or 14% of sales.