MJBizMag September 2020 - 45

because the federal government handed
regulatory responsibility for sales to
provinces while maintaining oversight
of production.
The result? One province, Alberta, has
opened more than 500 privately owned
stores, or about one store per 10,000
people. By comparison, Canada as a
whole surpassed the 1,000-store mark
this summer.
In contrast to Alberta, other provinces
monopolized sales at the government
level. Quebec, the second-largest
province in the country, has opened
only 43 government-owned outlets, or
0.05 stores per 10,000 people. This was
predicted in early 2018 and comes as
little surprise.
Extracts, edibles and topicals started
slowly rolling out across the country
near the end of 2019-a little more than
one year after legalization, which was
always the plan. And Health Canada
started issuing micro-class licenses,
which come with lower barriers to entry
for entrepreneurs.
Canada's medical market has been
surprisingly resilient in the face of
recreational sales. On the eve of
recreational legalization, many experts
wrote off what was (and remains) by far
the largest federally regulated medical
marijuana market in the world.
Even though Canada's largest
producers took their focus away from
their bread and butter-their medical
patients-to try to capitalize on the
recreational market, the overall medical
sector has lost only 4.7% of its active
registrations since October 2018.
That's despite one of the biggest
companies in the country, Ontariobased
CannTrust, filing for creditor
protection and throwing its 67,000
patients to the wind.
The medical sector still has a
respectable 329,038 active registrations.
What follows is a high-level look at
where the 10 provincial markets stand
today. Metrics include monthly adult-use
sales, active medical registrations and
retail stores per 10,000 residents.
September 2020 | mjbizdaily.com 45
Nationwide
Monthly adult-use retail sales:
$139 million (CA$186) million*
Active medical patient registrations:
329,038** (down 4.7% since
legalization)
Number of retail stores per 10,000
residents: 0.27
Retail, wholesale and e-commerce:
Varies by province
Standard cultivation licenses: 283
Standard processing licenses: 255
Sales licenses: 202
Micro-cultivator licenses: 58
Micro-processor licenses: 14
Nursery licenses: 9
* As of May 2020.
** As of March 2020.
The province offers various incentives
ALBERTA
Monthly adult-use retail sales:
$34.8 million (CA$46.3 million)*
Active medical patient registrations:
73,629 (down 33% since legalization)
Number of retail stores per 10,000
residents: 1.15 (510 stores or licenses issued)
Retail system: Private sector
Wholesale: Alberta Gaming and Liquor
Commission
E-commerce: Government-controlled
* As of May 2020
Alberta is a business-friendly province
for cannabis companies. It's the only
jurisdiction in Canada to successfully
open a large number of stores in short
order after adult-use legalization in
October 2018.
to businesses, including a nonrefundable
tax credit of 10% of eligible expenditures,
which has been accessed by Aurora
Cannabis. Cannabis-related companies
are eligible for similar business incentives
such as the Alberta Investor Tax Credit,
the Entrepreneurship Incubator Program
and the Alberta Export Expansion
Package.
Cannabis producers and processors
also might be able to access a suite of costsharing
programs through the Canadian
Agricultural Partnership (CAP), a joint
federal-provincial initiative, if they meet
strict eligibility requirements.
The province's medical cannabis
market has been in retreat since
legalization, but it's still the secondlargest
in the country when measured
by active registrations. With
government incentives, lower taxes and
real estate costs, Alberta could make a
fine home for micro-class businesses.
Jasper National Park
in Alberta, Canada
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MJBizMag September 2020

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