A look at unpackaged cannabis production in Canada

The CCSI was assessed at C$5.41 per gram this week, down 0.4% from last week’s C$5.43 per gram.

By Mike Hoban23 August 2022 · 10:41 BST · 3 min read

Canadas Unpackaged Cannabis Production graph

The CCSI was assessed at C$5.41 per gram this week, down 0.4% from last week’s C$5.43 per gram. This week’s price equates to US$1,911 per pound at the current exchange rate.

Each week, Business of Cannabis delivers a series of insights from our partners at Cannabis Benchmark s®.

Statistics Canada recently published unpackaged production data through the end of 2021. The agency had previously released unpackaged production data through September 2021. The latest data shows that, through the end of 2021, total Canadian unpackaged production continued to hover slightly above 2020 levels. For 2021, total unpackaged cannabis production totalled 1.62M kg, or 9.6% more than 2020.

Despite several significant cultivators closing growing facilities, as we reported last month, production still increased. This indicates that a sizable portion of the licensed growing area has been grossly underutilized, and that additional closures may be on the horizon. Total licensed indoor growing area dropped by 10% in 2021, according to Statistics Canada.

While indoor growing facilities close, we see craft growers turning to outdoor cultivation in the cold Canadian climate. Though legal cannabis produced from outdoor cultivation is frequently thought to be of lower quality, it has significantly lower production costs, making it more competitive with illicitly-produced supply. While outdoor-grown cannabis might not be as marketable for smoking compared to indoor-grown flower, cannabis grown outdoors is ideal as a raw material for extraction and the production of cannabis 2.0 products like edibles, beverages, and vapes. In 2021, the reported data shows that the country’s licensed outdoor growing area jumped by 62% year-on-year to peak at 713 acres.

Nevertheless, despite the growth in outdoor cultivation, Cannabis Benchmarks estimates outdoor-grown cannabis still makes up a relatively small portion of Canada’s overall cannabis production. Cannabis Benchmarks estimates the total Canadian outdoor cannabis cultivation volume in 2021 to be approximately 210,000 kg, or approximately 13% of overall unpackaged production. This proportion is consistent with 2020. As more cannabis is cultivated outdoors, we anticipate that outdoor-grown cannabis will have a significant impact on the landscape of Canadian cultivation.

Source: Canada Cannabis Spot Index , Cannabis Benchmarks

See previous weekly updates from Cannabis Benchmarks: