Cannabis taxation and revenue.

Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries (MBLL) will apply a wholesale mark-up on non-medical cannabis. This approach is similar to that for the sale of alcohol in Manitoba. The mark-up will help pay for MBLL’s administrative costs as the province’s cannabis wholesaler and reporting agency.

The Manitoba government will also collect a cannabis retailer Social Responsibility Fee (SRF) on the annual revenues from the sale of non-medical cannabis by all provincially-licensed cannabis retailers. The fee is effective on January 1, 2019.

Manitoba will not apply the provincial sales tax (PST) on non-medical cannabis sales, but will continue to apply the PST to the sale of medical cannabis. The federal goods and services tax (GST) will apply to both medical and non-medical cannabis sales.

While the costs and revenues associated with this new market are very difficult to predict, initial projections indicate that the costs associated with the legalization of non-medical cannabis will exceed revenues from mark-ups and fees. Revenues from the SRF will be used to fund the many social costs associated with the legalization of cannabis, including addictions treatment and public education campaigns.