BC cannabis sales plunged in Q3 2025 amid strike, while direct delivery soared

BC’s cannabis distribution branch (LDB) wholesaled 30,215,090 grams of cannabis in October, November, and December 2025 (Q3 2025), bringing in $113,425,503 in sales.

Due to a strike that shut down the LDB’s central cannabis distribution centre from September 22 to October 27, 2025, as well as 39 provincially-run BC Cannabis Stores, sales saw significant quarterly and annual declines in Q3 2025.

The decline was so pronounced that it dragged down Canada’s national sales figures for October, although those figures recovered in November.

There was a 21.9% year-over-year (YOY) decline in grams wholesaled in BC in October, November, and December compared to the same period in the previous year, along with a 22.8% decline in wholesale sales.

Following long-term trends, the average price of cannabis also declined in the most recently reported quarter, by 1.1%, to $3.75 a gram, while the price of dried flower dropped 1.3% to $3.10 a gram. The number of private retail stores also grew YOY, from 512 in Q3 2024 to 522 in Q3 2025. The Lower Mainland gained seven stores over the previous year, and Northern BC gained three, while the Island lost one and the Interior gained one.

All dried flower SKU formats saw year-over-year declines, from 1 gram to 28 across all price points, with the exception of 14 gram SKUs under $5 a gram, which saw 19.1% increases in sales and 15.7% increase in grams sold.

All other product categories also saw annual declines in both dollars sold and units sold. At the same time, Beverages and ingestible extracts saw the lowest declines (15% and 19%, respectively). Seeds, Edibles, Flower, and Topicals saw the greatest annual declines.

The only product category to see any annual growth in sales or units sold was disposable (All-in-One) vapes, which grew 23.9% YOY in sales and 17.6% in units sold.

Note: This article has been edited to note there are 39 BC Cannabis Locations open currently, not 40.

While wholesale sales declined significantly across the province due to the inability of the LDB to ship products to retailers, the province’s direct delivery program—which allows small-scale BC-based producers to ship products directly to retailers—saw historic growth.

Wholesale grams sold through the program increased 679.6% year over year, from 555,362 grams in Q3 2024 to 4,329,514 grams in Q3 2025. Wholesale sales saw a similar increase, with 684.7% annual growth from $2,539,856 to $19,929,908.

The average price of cannabis sold through direct delivery increased slightly, from $4.57 a gram to $4.60 a gram, while dried flower increased from $3.91 a gram to $4.23.

Sales of cannabis flower increased from $1.2 million in Q3 2024 to $5.2 million in Q3 2025. Inhalable extracts (which include infused pre-rolls, vapes, and extracts) increased from $679,782 to a whopping $7.8 million.

Pre-rolls (non-infused) increased from $555,664 to nearly $6.1 million.  Edibles and beverages increased from $57,047 to $708,543.

BC’s direct delivery program, launched in 2022, had experienced several quarters of declines after reaching a peak in Q2 2022. Beginning in Q1 2025, the distribution model began showing increases again in sales, but this newest quarter dwarfs all previous ones.

The strike in BC in September and October not only impacted provincial and national sales; at least two producers have noted significant increases and decreases in sales as a result. Alberta-based cannabis producer CanadaBis recently announced that the strike cost them half a million dollars in sales.

Meanwhile, BC-based Herbal Dispatch, which sold products through the direct delivery system in BC, reported a record-breaking month of $4.1 million in sales for October 2025, largely due to increased demand through direct delivery resulting from the public sector strike in BC.

The strike, which began on Monday, September 2, was led by the BC General Employees Union (BCGEU) and sought to address wage demands from the union representing 34,000 BC public service workers. On September 22, the job action expanded to workers at the BC Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB)’s cannabis distribution centre, Head Office, and Customer Care Centre (CCC).

The impact of the strike’s shutdown of the cannabis distribution system is expected to be reflected in upcoming quarterly reports from publicly traded cannabis companies in the coming weeks.