The CCSI was assessed at C$5.22 per gram this week, down 1.7% from last week’s C$5.31 per gram. This week’s price equates to US$1,871 per pound at the current exchange rate.
Each week, Business of Cannabis delivers a series of insights from our partners at Cannabis Benchmarks®.
This week, Cannabis Benchmarks provides some further analysis on the optimal number of recreational cannabis stores in Canada.
The Canadian cannabis industry continues to open new retail outlets across the country at a steady pace. As of the end of July Cannabis Benchmarks counted 2,277 licensed retailers, with an average monthly growth rate of 7.2% in 2021.
This growth rate has been very consistent throughout the year, which gives confidence that the cannabis industry will continue to grow for the remainder of 2021.
The table above shows the average number of people each store serves in all the major provinces.
To better understand the number of stores required, we looked to Colorado and Oregon – two mature legal cannabis markets in the U.S. In Colorado there is one recreational retailer for about every 9,600 residents while in Oregon there is one legal store for about every 6,150 people. Using that example, Cannabis Benchmarks assumes one store should ideally serve 7,500 people.
Based on this analysis, Canada as a whole would require a total of 4,959 stores, or 2.2 times the current number of retailers.
Source: Canada Cannabis Spot Index, Cannabis Benchmarks
