The NSLC has closed the books on its 2026 fiscal year, and the top-line number went up while the thing the NSLC is most famous for went slightly down. Total sales reached $898.4 million, an increase of 1.1 percent, or about $10 million more than the year before.

Here is the wrinkle. Beverage alcohol sales actually dipped, landing at $759.5 million, down 0.2 percent. Spirits took the hardest hit, falling 3.1 percent to $195.6 million. Wine slipped 0.5 percent to $162 million, and beer was basically flat, down 0.1 percent to $288.3 million. Fewer of us are walking out with a bottle, too. Beverage alcohol transactions fell 2.6 percent, though the average basket crept up 1.8 percent to $41.13, which is a polite way of saying that when we do buy, we spend a bit more.

So what kept the overall number in the green? Two things. Cannabis sales jumped 9.3 percent to $138.8 million, and the ready-to-drink category kept rolling, up 5.4 percent to $113.6 million. Coolers alone accounted for $99.1 million of that. Convenience, once again, wins.

The genuinely good local story is in the made-in-Nova-Scotia column. Local beverage alcohol sales rose 11.6 percent to $111 million, and when you add local cannabis, total local product sales hit $150.9 million, up 11.2 percent. Nova Scotia spirits led the pack with a 16.6 percent jump, local ready-to-drink rose 14.9 percent, and local wine climbed 14.1 percent. Homegrown cannabis now makes up 28.7 percent of all cannabis sold here.

President and CEO Greg Hughes framed the year as a balancing act. “While overall sales saw modest growth last year, our results reflect a business that continues to adapt in a challenging retail environment,” he said, pointing to rising operating costs and shifting shopper habits.

A few other notes that locals might clock. The NSLC added cannabis to 33 stores that previously sold alcohol only, bringing the provincewide total to 84 cannabis locations, including a new Dartmouth Crossing store with a redesigned cannabis shopping experience. And following the province’s move on U.S. products last fall, the NSLC sold just over $10 million in existing American inventory between December and the end of March.

Now the part that will get attention at budget time. Net income came in at $268.8 million, down 4.1 percent, a drop of $11.4 million. The NSLC chalks that up mostly to higher labour costs and technology investments. Since the corporation hands 100 percent of its profits to the province, a smaller return is a smaller cheque for public services.

The quick read: spirits and wine are sliding, cannabis and canned coolers are climbing, Nova Scotia made products are having a real moment, and the province’s cut got a little lighter this year.

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