Atlantic Canada buying more cannabis than the rest of the country: StatCan

Customers line up at the retail cannabis store in Charlottetown on October 17, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Brian McInnis

Consumers in Atlantic Canada have purchased more cannabis than the rest of the country in the first two months since legalization, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

The province-by-province numbers show more legal pot per capita was purchased in Prince Edward Island in the first six weeks – up to Dec. 1 – than anywhere else in the country.

In October and November, the statistics agency said cannabis retailers in P.E.I. sold $2.1 million worth of product. That means customers in P.E.I. each spent $13.83 on average on legal marijuana, according to 2017 population data from Statistics Canada.

P.E.I. wasn’t the only province in Eastern Canada embracing legalization. Nova Scotians spent the second highest amount on cannabis during the reported time frame.

According to Statistics Canada, consumers in Nova Scotia each spent $11.34 on average in October and November.

Newfoundland and Labrador had the third highest sales per capita, with residents each spending $8.17 on average on legal pot. The fourth place spot was also claimed by an Atlantic province with New Brunswick cannabis users each spending $6.87 on average.

Rounding out the top five was Alberta with an average of $4.53 per resident.

The lowest sales in the first two months since legalization were in British Columbia where shoppers there only spent 69 cents on average on cannabis. Saskatchewan sales were also low with only $1.29 spent on average followed by Ontario at $1.54.

Quebec consumers were in the middle of the pack spending $2.53 on average.

The national average for Canada was $2.65, according to the data.

Statistics Canada did not release sales data for Manitoba, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.