Ont.-based medical marijuana company looks to expand to Sask.
Company plans to employ 40 to 50 people if approved
An Ontario-based medicinal marijuana company is looking to expand into Saskatchewan.
The Canopy Growth Corporation bought Saskatchewan-based rTrees Products on Tuesday.
The Sask. company is a late-stage applicant to the federal government's medical marijuana system.
"The intent here was definitely to expand the reach and to be able to supply the product to Western Canada, but also to bring in some of the agriculture expertise that exists particularly in the Prairie provinces and roll that into the organization," said Andrew MacCorquodale, head of operations for Western Canada for Canopy Growth Corporation.
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Though they are not yet licensed, the company has already posted ads for four positions in Yorkton, Sask.
MacCorquodale said there will be some immediate construction-related jobs related to the expansion, though most of the jobs currently posted relate to operations of the existing phase.
If the company is licensed, it will operate out of a 90,000-square-foot facility in Yorkton under the name Tweed Grasslands.
The company said it eventually plans to hire 40 or 50 employees, if it is approved. The company said it hopes to attain a licence "within months."
Marijuana is expected to be legalized across the country in the summer of 2018.
The federal government will be responsible for the regulations surrounding the drug but it will be up to the provinces and territories to decide how it is distributed.