Price averages are useful for personal purchases, helping you find above average quality product for below average prices in a competitive analysis. This post will check on dried cannabis prices at online stores across Canada, summarized by province.
Online store prices were averaged between October 2018 to August 2019, while physical storefronts without product listings online weren’t included. Nor were sales and discounts reflected.
Focussing on dried cannabis only, including milled and loose bud, all listings are averaged equally, regardless of package size.
Stores comprising this dataset are either public provincial websites or private stores. Summaries for some provinces rely on listings from the provincial website only, while others rely on private stores.
Price averages across the country
Before we discuss specific provinces, let’s get oriented with some measures of the dataset as a whole:
The listings have been grouped and averaged for the per gram pricing of each province. On average, Quebec has the lowest dried cannabis prices nationally ($8.43 per gram). Yukon has the highest average prices, about $14.11 per gram from any package size.
Looking across all provinces, the average for the group is $11.15 per gram, which is a bit lower than the median price of $11.67. Four provinces lie under the lower quartile at $9.46 on average: Quebec, Newfoundland, PEI, and British Columbia.
Three provinces surpass the upper quartile price of $12.16: Yukon, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The provinces not mentioned previously (Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Ontario) were found between the lower and upper quantiles.
Alberta
For the three stores and 60+ brands comprising the Alberta component of this dataset, average per gram prices range $14.57 for any package size, from $5.43 per gram to $20.00 per gram.
Average price for the province lies at $12.05 per gram, the median price is a hair below at $11.99 per gram.
British Columbia
Representing the entire province, BC’s provincial online store appears to have stocked over 50 brands of cannabis, from a price of $5.71 to $18.00 per gram ($12.99 range). Average price across all dried cannabis product listings in the store is $9.48, higher than the median price ($8.99 per gram).
Manitoba
The Tokyo Smoke and Delta 9 online stores represent the Manitoba prices for this dataset. Listings started mid-November 2018 and they appear to have stocked over 30 brands so far.
Prices have been as low as $6 per gram and as high as $24 per gram, one of the larger ranges in the market ($18.00). Average prices are marked at $12.30 at the time of writing. The median value for the the stores pricing falls a bit lower, at $12.14 per gram.
New Brunswick
New Brunswick’s provincial online store was operational a day after legalization, and it appears they’ve listed about 20 brands selling dried cannabis product so far.
Prices range $10.32 from $6.67 per gram to $16.99 per gram, falling at $11.91 on average. Median prices sink a bit lower, hitting $11.50 per gram.
Newfoundland
Since January 2019, Newfoundland’s provincial online store has stocked 18 brands of dried cannabis product, from a minimum price of $5.87 per gram, to a maximum price of $12.99 per gram, a range of $7.12. Average price lands comparatively low, at $8.88 per gram, which is a bit higher than the store’s median price point ($8.35 per gram).
Nova Scotia
Since January 2019 Nova Scotia’s online store has listed 34 brands of dried cannabis product. Prices fall into a tight range ($7.73) from a $7.27 per gram minimum to a $15.00 per gram maximum. Average price is $11.67 and the median surpasses it, at $11.95.
Ontario
Since mid-October OCS.ca has listed more than 60 brands of dried cannabis product, ranging in price from $6.75 per gram to $22.66 per gram on the maximum end. Average prices land at $11.47 per gram, which is quite a bit higher than the median price of $10.94 per gram.
PEI
Prince Edward Island’s provincial store has stocked over 30 brands selling dried cannabis product since November 2018, at a minimum price of $6.32 per gram to a maximum of $16.40 per gram—a $10.08 range. The average price for this province is $9.45 per gram, fairly close to the lower median price of $9.13 per gram.
Quebec
Quebec’s SQDC provincial store has stocked over 20 brands of cannabis since November 2018. It’s the lowest priced provincial store in Canada.
Prices range $7.95 from the $5.28 per gram minimum, to the $13.23 per gram maximum. Average price is the lowest in the country at $8.43 per gram. The median price is fairly close to the average, it lands lower at $8.20 per gram.
Saskatchewan
Online listings from two private stores make up the data component for this province and at the time of writing, over 30 brands were listed. Found listings range from $6.67 per gram to $22.85 per gram, a span of $16.81. The static average lands at $12.95, fairly close to the median which falls a bit lower at $12.84.
Yukon
In the Yukon, Leafly found 17 brands in the territory’s store that have been operating since late October 2018. Price range is $18.51 from $7.62 per gram to $26.13 per gram to average $14.13 per gram. The median price for this province is $13.92 per gram.
Key takeaways
One of the provincial stores had a lower average price than its median price, Nova Scotia. We could assume a greater amount of choice on the value side there. All other provinces had higher average prices than median prices.
Back to the point made at the start, these average prices should give you some guidance for when deciding where you want to steer your ship. There’s logic to playing it safe on the low side of the average, finding areas of excellent value and hopefully avoiding areas of poor quality. And there’s advantages to spending a bit extra on something memorable, but the risks are a bit greater. The averages aren’t a differentiator, more an orienter, to know what side of the fence you’re on.
Whatever province you reside in, consider both sides of the market at the same time. If you’re planning your cannabis menu on a budget, you might anchor two thirds of your spending on listings below the average price, and limit the high expense purchases to one third of the budget.
As we’ve seen from comparing the median prices with averages, many provinces have stores where the higher end is more active. There’s plenty of choice for higher price points, but quality is not always promised. You can limit your exposure by minding the averages.
