Canadians may flock south of the border to pillage outlet malls and stockpile cigarettes but, when it comes to pinching pennies, we have the weed.
According to a report published by Wikileaf last week, an online database that tracks and compares North American dispensary prices, cannabis is 30 percent less expensive in the Great White North than in the United States.
By comparing dispensaries in Canada and the U.S. at the beginning of April 2018, Wikileaf discovered that an eighth of an ounce ran consumers around USD $40, versus USD $27.90 in Canada (CAD $35.63). While there is a slight decrease in the disparity as you increase the quantity of cannabis being purchased, Canadian savings stay pretty consistent regardless of the overall purchase amount.
The Seattle-based digital hub compared the price of weed between different cities and found even more prominent deviations based on certain regions. Vancouver, for example, sells cannabis 39 percent cheaper than San Francisco, the most expensive city for weed in North America.
Another interesting piece of data is the stability of pricing throughout the year. In both countries, there is hardly any measureable shift in the cost of cannabis since the beginning of 2018. While Canada saw a 7.7 percent drop in cost per gram in 2017, the average cost of weed in the country has stabalized just in time for the federal legalization of recreational cannabis, which is set to take place sometime late this summer.
Wikileaf also compared the price of weed between the top seven most popular cities frequented by their online users. San Francisco and Seattle came in at the most expensive amongst the top dispensary-loving cities, while Toronto and Vancouver were ranked the most affordable.
In the global context, Canada remains relatively average in terms of price point per gram. According to the 2018 Cannabis Price Index published by ABCD, a Berlin-based performance PR agency, no Canadian cities fall within either of the top ten most or least expensive when it comes to weed. Five Canadian cities (Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Montreal) land between 80 to 101 on a list of 120 cities. Tokyo, Japan takes the number one most expensive city at USD $32.66 (CAD $41.71) per gram while Quito, Ecuador provides the cheapest at USD $1.34 (CAD $1.71) per gram.
Wikileaf notes in its report that it is likely Canada’s seasoned cannabis culture, deep-rooted legalization efforts, and established growers and sellers that account for the lower price point when compared to the United States.
So, the U.S. can keep their cheap liquor, under-taxed ciggies, and draconian drug laws. We’ve got the cheaper stash.
