Canada’s cannabis sales reached a new high in August 2026, totalling $520.4 million.

Dried flower sales have also slightly rebounded in terms of units sold, while cannabis edibles increased and extracts declined. 

The new preliminary figures show national cannabis sales up about 3% year-over-year from $503.1 million in August 2025. Statistics Canada routinely updates its sales figures over time as new data comes in. As a result, July 2026 sales figures have been adjusted from $503.2 million to $515.8 million, a 3% increase. 

All provinces saw year-over-year growth in cannabis sales in August 2026, except Alberta, where sales were down 4% YOY. Manitoba showed the largest YOY increase at 21%, followed by Nova Scotia at 13%, PEI at 12%, and BC at 10%. Ontario, the province with the most sales, saw less than 1% annual growth in August 2026. 

Despite the small annual decline in cannabis sales in Alberta in August 2026, the province still reclaimed its third-place spot in national cannabis sales from British Columbia. Wild Rose province briefly lost that position to BC after the fall 2025 public sector strike ended, which had impacted BC’s cannabis sales. In the months after BC fully resumed sales, sales figures there briefly spiked, putting the BC Bud province ahead of Alberta. 

Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Yukon showed strong 12-month cumulative expansion at +12%, +9%, and +7%, respectively. Figures for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are not available. 

The federal government’s most recent sales figures through June 2026 show dried cannabis flower sales at 50% of total unit sales in the adult-use and medical markets, compared with 26% for edibles and 23% for extracts. 

Flower and edibles gain market share, extracts decline.

After several quarters of declines, dried flower sales increased from a 48% market share in the period ending September 2025. Extracts fell to a 28% market share, while edibles rose to 24%.

Total licensed indoor growing area declined from 1,536,415 m2 as of Sept 2025 to 1,393,380 m2 as of June 2026.

Related ArticlesCannabis GDP contribution contracts 

Since January 2026, after several years of growth, the licensed cannabis industry has contributed less to Canada’s GDP. 

Licensed cannabis production expanded rapidly in late 2025, peaking at $12.9 billion in December 2025 (up from $11.9 billion in August 2025). It subsequently moderated through 2026, closing at $11.4 billion in July 2026.

Note: These figures represent the extrapolated annual total the industry would hit if it maintained that month’s pace for a full year, not the cash generated in that isolated 30-day window.

Despite the first-half contraction, the 12-month average for licensed production still rose 38.0% year-over-year to $12.3 billion, up from $8.9 billion.

These declines have not benefited the illicit market, though. Unlicensed production peaked at $1.6 billion in October 2025 before declining steadily by 5.7% to $1.5 billion in July 2026.

While the decline was driven by licensed cannabis production, cannabis retail’s contribution to Canada’s GDP has continued an upward trend. Over the past 12 months, licensed retail activity rose 6.3% (from $952 million in August 2025 to $1 billion in July 2026, peaking at 1.1 billion in June 2026). Unlicensed retail activity fell 2.4% during this same period, from $878 million in August 2025 to $857 million in July 2026.

Year-over-year, licensed retail posted an average increase of 6.7% (up from $930.8 million in the prior 12 months), while unlicensed retail posted a smaller average increase of 4.8% (up from $846.5 million).

Both licensed and unlicensed markets trended downward overall starting in early 2026, though licensed retail was an exception. Unlicensed retail peaked in December 2025 at $906 million before declining continuously through July 2026 ($857 million). Licensed retail similarly peaked in June 2026 ($1.1 billion) before dropping to $1 billion in July 2026.

Statistics Canada reports monthly GDP as an extrapolated annual total (seasonally adjusted annualized rate, or SAAR), meaning these numbers reflect a calculated pace rather than isolated monthly cash generation.

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