Legal pot will be a $7B business in Canada

Once legal, Canada’s marijuana industry is expected to generate more than $7 billion in sales annually, according to a new report by Deloitte.

The report finds $4.3 billion will come from recreational sales, $1.7 billion from medicinal sales, and about $1 billion from the black market.

Small businesses have long argued customers will likely stick with what they know.

But Jayana Darras with Deloitte says the report shows differently.

“Customers are willing to do up to a 10 per cent increase, assuming they get those better products. About 53 cents more is what Canadians are willing to pay after legalization.”

And Canadians are expected to buy more pot per month.

“Expected increase of about 22 per cent after legalization.”

Darras says nearly two-thirds of current pot consumers will make the switch to legal stores but daily consumers are more likely to buy off the illegal market.

“What’s interesting when we did this study was that there wasn’t a lot of people that felt that brand would pursue them to legal cannabis. It’s something that’s been debated in the Senate currently.”

Nearly half of Canadians say they still plan on buying from a bricks-and-mortar store, as opposed to online.