Alberta Cannabis Retailers Can Expect ‘Tight’ Profit Margins After Wholesale Prices Revealed, Business Prof Says

Article by Kevin Maimann, StarMetro Edmonton

Profit margins will be tight for cannabis retailers next month, an Edmonton business professor says, after the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission released its list of wholesale prices.

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All legal retailers will have to buy through AGLC, and the commission recently sent them a list pegging their average price per gram at $8.90 including federal excise duty, provincial duty and GST.

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“I think it’s a little higher than we expected, but it’s in the ballpark,” Kyle Murray, vice dean at the University of Alberta’s business school, said Wednesday.

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“If they are going to try and sell it (to consumers) for $10 or $9.50 (a gram) it’s going to be a pretty tight margin. I think for a lot of stores this means it’s probably going to be more in the $10 to $12 range.”

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According to the Statistics Canada Cannabis Economic Report from January, Albertans currently pay an average of $7.67 a gram, compared to a national average of $7.48.

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Those numbers combine medical and non-medical averages, with medical weed usually costing more.

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