On December 11, 2017, the federal government announced that it will be sharing 75% of tax revenues from recreational cannabis sales with provinces and territories. The agreement provides provinces and territories $0.75 cents for every dollar collected in excise tax levied on cannabis for the first two years of legalization. The federal government will retain the remaining 25% to a maximum of $100 million per year, based on a projected $400 million per year to be collected in tax revenue. Any amount over $400 million per year will go to provinces and territories.
The announcement is welcomed by provinces, territories, municipalities and the AAMDC, all who had advocated to the federal government to increase the revenue sharing from the original 50-50 distribution that the Government of Canada proposed earlier this fall. Provinces, territories and municipalities had asserted that they would collectively be responsible for the majority of police enforcement, health care, education programs, and use and planning responsibilities, and other costs associated with legalization.
AAMDC submitted a letter to the federal government outlining the position of rural municipalities and the need for a fair proportion of the excise tax to be shared with provincial/territorial and municipal governments to better support the implementation of the many components of recreational cannabis legalization that will impact rural Alberta. Click here to view the AAMDC submission.
The AAMDC looks forward to working with the Government of Alberta to determine how Alberta’s portion of the excise tax will support municipal costs related to cannabis legalization.
Enquiries may be directed to:
Chelsea Parent
Policy Analyst
587.671.0124
Kim Heyman
Director, Advocacy & Communications
780.955.4079