As reported by Deloitte Canada and Ontario Cannabis Store, the province's pot distributor, recreational pot has contributed $43.5 billion to Canada's GDP and $13.3 billion to Ontario's since October 2018.
Clearly, the marijuana industry in Canada is a significant source of economic growth, and this is in large part due to the industry's total sales and capital expenditures.
Total Industry Sales & Expenditures
Between 2018 and 2021, recreational and medical cannabis sales in Canada are estimated to be $11 billion, with two-thirds of those sales for recreational cannabis. Those sales are estimated to be $3.8 billion in Ontario, with recreational cannabis accounting for slightly over half of sales.
Since legalization, many companies have embarked on aggressive expansion, which is why they have doubled down on capital expenditures to invest in real estate, infrastructure, and technology.
Consequently, the capital expenditures between 2018 and 2021 totalled $29 billion across Canada and $9.2 billion in Ontario.
Fueling The Economy
The above is why, out of $43.5 billion in national GDP, $25.2 billion came from labor income, supporting 151,000 jobs across the country.
In Ontario, $8.0 billion in labor income has fueled the province's $13.3 billion GDP, generated by 48,000 jobs - more than 1 in 3 cannabis jobs in Canada.
Simply put, for every dollar of revenue or capital expenditure, the industry adds approximately $1.09 to Canada's GDP and $1.02 to Ontario's GDP.
From a more tangible perspective, every million dollars in revenue or capital expenditure generated by the cannabis sector supports approximately four jobs in Canada and Ontario.
So overall, it is estimated that between 2018 and 2021, the cannabis industry supported $15.1 billion in Canadian government tax revenues and $3.0 billion in Ontario government tax revenues.
Now What?
As cannabis has only been legal in Canada for three years and given how it has matured to date, we can expect its impact on national and provincial economies to be tremendous over the next decade.
This could mean cannabis is only at the beginning of its rise for entrepreneurs and investors, and opportunities are plenty.
