A new report says the Canadian cannabis industry is continuing to show signs of slowing growth and market consolidation.
The report, compiled from data from cannabis retail digital platform Hifyre and Statistics Canada, was prepared by Zuanic & Associates, an advisory firm specializing in the cannabis and consumer packaged goods industries.
Figures from Hifyre show total cannabis sales (non-medical) grew 4% in the first quarter of 2025, compared to just over 6% growth for all of 2024, and down from mid-teens growth in 2022 and 2023. The top 3 Canadian cannabis companies had a 27% share in the first three months of 2025, down from 31% in the first three months of 2024.
This is similar to sales figures from Statistics Canada, which show that the exponential growth of cannabis sales in the first few years of legalization slowed considerably in the last few years. Despite these declining increases, sales in December 2024 reached a record high. Those sales again dropped 5.7% in January 2025, following seasonal retail trends, but were still up 5.4% compared to January 2024.
However, while Statistics Canada’s numbers show just about 1% growth in 2024, HyFire argues the Canadian federal government’s sample sizes are too small, instead landing on a 6.4% retail cannabis sales growth in 2024.
This rate of growth would value the Canadian non-medical cannabis market at about $5.6 billion in 2024, compared to Statistics Canada’s estimate of $5.2 billion.
Hifyre’s figures also show 11 cannabis companies in Canada with more than 2% market share in the first three months of 2025. According to these figures, Organigram Global had the largest market share (11.6% market share), along with Tilray and VFF (Pure Sunfarms) at 9.1% and 6.2%, respectively.
The last two lost market share year-over-year, while Organigram gained, primarily due to the acquisition of Motif.
Cronos and Decibel, two other Canadian cannabis companies with a significant share of the overall market, also saw a decline in their market share. Auxly, Cannara Biotech, Canopy Growth, Weed Me, and Rubicon all saw an increase.
The Loud Plug, sold by Canadian Clinical Cannabinoids Inc., saw its market share more than double over the past two years.
Companies with double-digit sales growth (at retail) in year-over-year terms in Q1 2025 include: Auxly +32%, Cannara +37%, Canopy +28%, Weed Me +30%, and Rubicon +30%.
Companies with double-digit declines include: Tilray -14%, VFF -19%, and Decibel -22%.
While Hyfire’s data showed 4% year-over-year growth in the cannabis market, the trend of declining market share of flower continued in Q1 2025, with a 2% year-over-year decline, while pre-rolls and vapes each saw sales increase by 10%. Edibles sales were up 2% and concentrates (non-vapes) were down 3% in this time period. Topicals were up 12%.
Despite these declines, flower was still the largest market share at 36%, and well over the majority of sales when compared with pre-rolls at 32%. Cannabis vapes were the third largest product category, accounting for 32% of sales. Edibles and concentrates were about 5% of the market, while oil/capsules and beverages comprised about 2% of the total market share.
Tilray was the company with the largest market share of dried flower, Decibel dominated pre-rolls, and Organigram dominated the vape category (following their acquisition of Motif).
The five largest companies had a 57% share in the cannabis vape market, a 49% share in cannabis flower, and 34% in pre-rolls.
Seven cannabis producers had a 2-5% flower share in Q1 2025: Canopy 3.3% (1Q24 3.2%); Cannara 3.0% (2.3%); Canadian Clinical Cannabinoids (CCC) 2.8% (2.5%); SNDL 2.3% (2.8%); Canada’s Island Garden 2.1% (2.5%), while Rubicon and Atlantic Cultivation each controlled 2%.
