The Manitoba government has proclaimed legislation under the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Amendment Act (Social Responsibility Fee Repealed) that ends its collection of social responsibility fees from cannabis retailers retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022, Finance Minister Cliff Cullen announced in a media release on Thursday (July 6).
“Our government is committed to listening to small businesses and they have told us they would like to retain more of their earnings to reinvest in vital capital and labour costs,” Cullen said. “The cannabis market in Manitoba has matured to a point where we are able to balance the sector’s social responsibility with the sector’s competitiveness.”
Introduced in November 2022, the legislation originally proposed ending the social responsibility levy as of Jan. 1, 2023. The repeal date was amended to Jan. 1, 2022, in response to stakeholder requests to retain fees collected during the 2022 calendar year. Any moneys collected for 2022 will be returned to retailers, the minister said.
The six per cent social responsibility fee was announced in 2018 as a regulatory fee to be paid by all provincially licensed cannabis retailers on recreational cannabis revenue as a means for retailers to contribute to the social costs associated with cannabis legalization.
Going forward, the minister noted, retailers will continue to support social responsibility efforts through the existing legislated price markup collected by Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries which remains unchanged under the recent legislative amendments. Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries contributes two per cent of annual net income toward public education, addictions services and health programs.
For more information about cannabis in Manitoba, visit www.mbll.ca/content/cannabis-facts-tips-resources
