Canada legal cannabis - prediction boom or bust?

[DreamyCloud]

I’ve been keeping an eye on the cannabis industry here in Canada, and I’m leaning towards it being a bust. Despite the optimistic market growth predictions, the actual situation seems quite stagnant. It’s just my personal take on the matter.

 

[TRONto]

The boom (2022) has come and gone. The market is a shadow of what it was a few years ago. It's too bad covid overshadowed the whole legalization. I don't see the economic impact (aside from retail) talked about very much.

"Canada's cannabis sector grew from October 2018 to December 2022 but started to decline in 2023
The cannabis sector was valued at $10.8 billion in 2023, an increase from $6.4 billion when cannabis for non-medical purposes was first legalized.

Cannabis-related drug offences drop as a result of legalization
Before legalization, cannabis possession was almost always illegal and accounted for the majority of cannabis-related drug offences. After legalization, total cannabis-related offences fell overall, and under the new legislation, most offences are related to illicit importation and exportation. For example, in 2022, two-thirds (67%) of the 10,824 total cannabis offences were for illicit importation and exportation, and 12% of cannabis-related offences were for possession."

"Deloitte and the Ontario Cannabis Store recently released a similar report, showing the cannabis industry contributed $76.5 billion to Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) and $23.1 billion to Ontario's GDP between legalization in 2018 and 2024."

 

[Admiral Beez]

The boom (2022) has come and gone.

Agreed, and yet there remain cannabis shops all across the city. Here's an approx. two square km box around my house. How are they paying the rent?

 

[camdudetenger2018]

its a boom lol

 

[TRONto]

https://www.torontotoday.ca/local/business-economy/toronto-cannabis-retailers-market-10653012

The numbers for Toronto and Ontario are dropping.... very slowly

 

[Jonny5]

Agreed, and yet there remain cannabis shops all across the city. Here's an approx. two square km box around my house. How are they paying the rent?

I noticed a lot, not all, but a lot of the shops in this box are in very low quality retail space, some that were not leased out for years, like the one there at Queen and Jarvis which is a space obviously awaiting redevelopment.
The rent is probably really cheap.