When Canada legalized cannabis in 2018, the goal was to create a thriving legal market where small cannabis producers could find success alongside larger companies. But six years later, many small producers say they're struggling — facing taxation, strict regulations, and retail challenges that make profitability difficult.
"It's not one thing that kills you in this business. It's everything," says Guy Giroux, founder of Grass Monkeys, an Alberta-based cannabis facility.
The heart of the issue is the excise tax system, a government-imposed tax on specific goods and services. When legalization launched, the tax was set at the greater of either $1 per gram or 10 percent of the sale price, a system designed when cannabis was selling for $10 per gram.
As competition pushed prices down to about $3 per gram, the tax didn't change, and producers say it now eats up roughly 34 per cent of their revenue — one of the highest tax burdens of any industry in Canada.
Read more at Calgary Journal