Ontario and Quebec cannabis distributors see sales spike amid COVID-19 pandemic

TORONTO — Some provincial cannabis distributors are seeing Canadians stock up on pot products amid an outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Ontario Cannabis Store spokesperson Daffyd Roderick says the retailer received almost 3,000 orders on Saturday, an 80-per-cent increase over an average Saturday.

Roderick says the last three days have brought an increase in the volume in sales on OCS.ca and a high demand for same-day and next-day delivery.

The OCS has also noticed that authorized cannabis retail stores are reporting an increase in customer volume.

Societe quebecoise du cannabis says in an email to The Canadian Press that it has also experienced an increase in sales over the last few days, but declined to say how big the spike is.

Both organizations say their cannabis supply is stable and delivery is operating normally.