Pot taxes add $640 million to provincial coffers in first year of legalization

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Pot smokers in Canada paid $640 million in provincial taxes in the first year of cannabis legalization.

And the money collected for provincial coffers is trending upwards.

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Based on figures provided by Statistics Canada, Blacklock’s Reporter reports nearly two-thirds of a billion bucks went to provinces — $144 million in taxes was collected in the first quarter after legalization in mid-October 2018, followed by $160 million, $144 million and $192 million for the next three quarters.

But the total pales in comparison to the more than $19 billion collected through the sales of tobacco during the same time period.

Federal taxes are capped at $100 million annually for two years, Blacklock’s report said.

The infusion of cash comes through sales of weed in more than 400 licensed stores across the country, according to a StatsCan report titled The Retail Cannabis Market In Canada: A Portrait Of The First Year.

Potheads spent more than $907 million on non-medical cannabis purchased through legal sources, including $120.6 million in online sales, the report says.

Ontarians shelled out nearly $217 million in total retail sales at cannabis stores, followed by Alberta (nearly $196 million) and Quebec ($195 million).

Startlingly, Yukon consumers spent $103 a year per capita on legal cannabis, followed by P.E.I. at $97 per capita. B.C. weed users spent an average of just $10 while those in Ontario spent just $15 per capita.

“Differences between regions in total and per capita cannabis store sales may be explained in part by Canadian’s access to cannabis stores,” the report says. “Most online sales are operated under the public retail model, the exception being Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.”

StatsCan says that as of July 2019, 45% of Canadians live within 10 kilometres of a cannabis store.