Guide

How much is a gram of weed in Canada?

There is no single price. Statistics Canada's last published quarterly figures, from 2019, put legal dried cannabis at about $10.65 a gram and illegal at about $5.93. More recent data shows recreational cannabis prices fell 1.1% between March 2024 and March 2025, but no current per-gram average is published.

A cannabis bud on a small digital scale beside a jar of flower

5 min read · Updated October 31, 2026 · WeedDB editors

The honest answer to "how much is a gram" is that it depends on the province, the product and the year, and Canada does not publish a current national per-gram average. Here are the dated, sourced figures that do exist, what a gram is next to an eighth or an ounce, and why legal prices are what they are.

How much does a gram of weed cost in Canada?

The most recent per-gram figures Statistics Canada published in its quarterly cannabis price series are for the second quarter of 2019: $10.65 a gram from legal sources and $5.93 from illegal ones. They came from voluntary submissions through the StatsCannabis app and from monitoring illegal online sellers, and Statistics Canada cautioned that the sample was limited.

Prices have changed a great deal since 2019, and this guide does not give a current average because none is published that we can cite. What Statistics Canada does report for recent years is the direction: the price of recreational cannabis fell 1.1% from March 2024 to March 2025, in a market that sold $5.5 billion in the year to March 2025, excluding sales taxes.

For today's price, check the product listings at your province's legal retailers. They show the actual price per gram, per package, for every product.

Period	Legal sources ($/g)	Illegal sources ($/g)
Q4 2018	9.82	6.51
Q1 2019	10.21	6.23
Q2 2019	10.65	5.93
Oct 17, 2018 to Jun 30, 2019	10.25	6.18

Average price per gram of dried cannabis, Statistics Canada, crowdsourced and web-scraped quotes, 2018 to 2019. These are the last quarterly figures published in this series, so treat them as history, not today's price.

What is a gram, an eighth, a quarter and an ounce?

A gram is the base unit. An eighth is 3.5 g, a quarter is 7 g, a half is 14 g and an ounce is 28 g in everyday use. The exact ounce is 28.35 g, but cannabis is rounded to 28. Our guide to weed measurements has the full list and the slang.

To compare two packages, divide the price by the grams. A 3.5 g package priced at $20 works out to about $5.71 a gram, and a 1 g package at $8 is $8 a gram. Larger packages often cost less per gram, though not always.

Adults can carry up to 30 g of dried cannabis, or the equivalent, in public, so no one buying legally is likely to need more than an ounce at a time.

Unit	Grams
Gram	1 g
Eighth	3.5 g
Quarter	7 g
Half ounce	14 g
Ounce	28 g

Standard cannabis sales units in grams. Legal stores use grams on the package.

Why does the price of weed vary so much?

Several things move the price, and most are about the product, not the plant.

Province: each province sets its own wholesale and retail markup and has its own supply. Statistics Canada's early data showed a wide spread across the country, with Quebec among the cheapest per gram and the Northwest Territories the dearest.
Format: flower, pre-rolls, vapes, edibles and concentrates are priced on different scales. Our guides to vape pens and infused pre-rolls show how much the format changes things.
Potency: products with higher THC usually cost more. See highest THC strains and reading cannabis labels for what the numbers mean.
Package size: a 1 g pre-roll costs more per gram than a larger bag of flower.
Quality and freshness: small-batch, hand-trimmed or recently packaged flower can be priced above standard lines.

Price is not a reliable sign of quality. Compare the label, the harvest or packaging date and the Total THC, not the price alone.

How are taxes added to the price of legal weed?

Legal cannabis carries a federal excise duty, which the licensed producer pays and which ends up in the shelf price. For dried flower, the federal cannabis duty is the greater of $0.25 per gram or 2.5% of the dutiable amount. An additional cannabis duty of the greater of $0.75 per gram or 7.5% applies on top in most provinces, and Manitoba has none.

Together those match the framework finance ministers agreed in 2017: combined cannabis-specific federal and provincial taxes capped at the higher of $1 per gram or 10% of the producer's selling price. Under that agreement, 75% of the excise revenue goes to the provinces and territories and 25% to the federal government. That ceiling does not include general sales taxes, which are charged at the till like other goods.

Provinces then add their own wholesale markup and operating costs. That is why the same product can have a different price in Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia even when the producer's price is the same.

Is legal weed more expensive than illegal weed?

In the Statistics Canada series, yes. Legal cannabis cost about $10.65 a gram in the second quarter of 2019 against about $5.93 for illegal, a gap of $4.72. Legal prices rose and illegal prices fell in the three quarters after legalization.

That gap is the price of tax, licensing, testing, packaging and a regulated supply chain. In exchange, a legal product has a label with the THC and CBD content, a lot number, a packaging date and an excise stamp, while illegal product has none of that. There is no testing or recall system for illicit cannabis.

Whether the gap has narrowed since 2019 is not something we can say with a sourced current figure. Statistics Canada's recent data shows legal prices drifting lower, but it does not give an updated per-gram comparison.

How can you pay less for weed legally?

Compare the price per gram, not the price on the front of the package. Look at larger sizes, and check the date, since flower approaching its best-before date is sometimes discounted. Our guide on whether weed expires explains what that date means.

Check the Total THC as well. A cheaper product with lower THC is not a worse deal, just a different product, and a lower-THC product goes further per session.

Do not buy from unlicensed sellers to save money. Legal stores are the only place you can be sure of what is in the package.

Maui Wowie strain — Strains people look up most

Blue Dream strain — Strains people look up most

Sources: www150.statcan.gc.ca, www150.statcan.gc.ca, canada.ca, canada.ca, laws-lois.justice.gc.ca

Common questions

How much is a gram of weed in Canada?

It varies by province and product, and there is no current national average published. Statistics Canada's last quarterly figures, for the second quarter of 2019, were about $10.65 a gram from legal sources and $5.93 from illegal ones.

How much is an eighth of weed in Canada?

An eighth is 3.5 g, so multiply the per-gram price of the product by 3.5. Check your province's legal retailers for the current price, since it varies by product and province.

How many grams are in an ounce of weed?

28 g in everyday use. The exact figure is 28.35 g, but cannabis is rounded to 28 so that eighths, quarters and halves divide evenly.

Is legal weed more expensive than illegal weed in Canada?

In Statistics Canada's 2018 and 2019 data, yes: about $10.65 a gram legal against $5.93 illegal in the second quarter of 2019. A current comparison is not published.

What is the federal tax on weed in Canada?

The federal cannabis duty on dried flower is the greater of $0.25 per gram or 2.5%. An additional duty of the greater of $0.75 per gram or 7.5% applies in most provinces. Sales taxes are charged on top.

Why is weed cheaper in some provinces?

Provinces set their own markups and have different supply and store models. Statistics Canada's early data showed Quebec among the lowest prices per gram and the Northwest Territories the highest.

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