Ottawa’s marijuana tax revenues have stalled at less than a quarter billion dollars a year, far below the billion-dollar windfall once promised by cabinet when cannabis was legalized in 2018.Blacklock's Reporter says a Department of Finance memo shows federal-only cannabis revenues were $244 million in 2024, down from $256.7 million in 2020, the year edible products were first licensed. Internal forecasts had once projected $356 million to $959 million in the very first year of legal sales.Bill C-74 set the excise tax at $1 per gram with expectations that revenue would steadily climb. At the time, Liberal MP Bill Blair told the Senate national finance committee that usage estimates pointed to $400 million annually, calling it a “conservative” figure..Reality has fallen short. An Inquiry of Ministry tabled in the Commons last November revealed licensed cannabis companies owed $269.8 million in unpaid excise taxes, while at least 290 dealers were delinquent. Between 2020 and 2023, 34 licensed firms including national distributors went bankrupt.The Competition Bureau estimated in 2023 that two-thirds of marijuana producers and sellers were behind on their federal excise duties. “The total amount of unpaid cannabis excise duties has continuously been rising since legalization,” the bureau warned.
