Purchases of licensed (medical purposes) and unlicensed (non-medical purposes) cannabis from abroad
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Given it is illegal for an individual with a medical documente to purchase cannabis from a producer outside of Canada it is assumed that all purchases of licensed cannabis are made from domestic producers or ‘home grown’ and therefore Statistics Canada is estimating zero purchases from abroad of licensed cannabis. There are some purchases from abroad for research purposes, but these are minimal, and it was decided these would not be counted at this time in order to simplify the accounting.
Estimates of the purchases from abroad of unlicensed cannabis were derived from two sources. First, cannabis import seizure data were obtained from the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA). The average number of kilograms seized was calculated for the last five years. A five year average was used to account for differing enforcement efforts from one year to the next. Estimates of the seizure rate were then developed based on several research studies and discussions with enforcement officials. This percentage was then used to calculate the total value of purchases from abroad of unlicensed (non-medical purposes) cannabis. For example, the average number of kilograms of cannabis seized (Ms) by CBSA between 2013 and 2017 was 361 kg per year. It is estimated that the seizure rate (Msr) was 0.6%. The value of unlicensed (non-medical purposes) cannabis purchased from abroad was therefore calculated as the amount seized / seizure rate.
The volume of licensed and unlicensed purchases from abroad can be represented by the following equations:
(4) Mlc=0
(5) Mulc= Ms/Msr (.361/0.006)=57.35
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