Reuters — Aurora Cannabis said Tuesday it will shut down a facility at Edmonton, adding to the woes of the cash-strapped Canadian pot producer which has been reeling under the impact of the pandemic since last year.
The company said medical distribution from the Aurora Polaris facility that is being shut down will move to an adjacent factory, Aurora Sky, while manufacturing will move to its Aurora River factory at Bradford, Ont., north of Toronto.
“We aspire to be a leaner, more agile organization that keeps pace with our competition and is on a path to profitability,” a spokesperson for the company said in an email statement.
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The company, however, did not disclose the number of employees that would be impacted by the move.
On Monday, the Edmonton-based company also delayed the announcement of its fourth-quarter earnings.
Aurora had announced staff reductions and plans to shut five facilities in June last year, hit by the pandemic’s impact on the cash-strapped cannabis industry.
Canada legalized recreational cannabis in October 2018, but profits have remained elusive for most marijuana companies due to fewer-than-expected retail stores, cheaper rates on the black market and slow overseas growth.
— Reporting for Reuters by Niket Nishant and Shariq Khan in Bangalore.
