Reading Time: 3 minutes Edmonton marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis is poised to close five of its grow sites across Canada and lay off almost a third of its production workforce. The company on Tuesday announced next steps in the “business transformation plan” it launched in February to “better align the business financially with the current realities of the cannabis […] Read more
Aurora Cannabis to shut five Canadian grows
Closures mean layoffs for 30 per cent of firm's production staff
Canopy Growth to close Saskatchewan pot plant
Ontario company stepping out of other international plays
Reading Time: 2 minutes A major indoor cannabis grow site at Yorkton, Sask. is the latest casualty as pot producer/retailer Canopy Growth adjusts its worldwide footprint. Smiths Falls, Ont.-based Canopy Growth, whose cannabis brands include Tweed, Tokyo Smoke, Van der Pop and Spectrum Therapeutics, announced Thursday it will shut down its Tweed Grasslands production facility at Yorkton to “further […] Read more
Ontario drops weed from essentials list
Officials call for further intervention
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Ontario’s government on Friday removed cannabis from a list of essential businesses allowed to operate during the lockdown, as part of its efforts to further restrict contact amid a deepening coronavirus crisis. The move comes after health officials projected 80,000 COVID-19 coronavirus cases and about 1,600 deaths by month end under current policies, […] Read more
As customers hoard pot brownies, weed firms see lockdown boost
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Cannabis sales are touching new highs as customers across the U.S. and Canada stockpile weed to prepare for long spells of isolation because of the coronavirus pandemic. Between March 16 and 22, sales of recreational cannabis across California, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska — some of the key U.S. markets — were up 50 […] Read more
Canopy Growth to shut two B.C. greenhouses, cut 500 jobs
Niagara greenhouse plans also shelved
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Pot producer Canopy Growth Corp. said on Wednesday it plans to close two of its greenhouses in Aldergrove and Delta, B.C., cutting about 500 positions. The company also said it no longer plans to open a third greenhouse in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Canopy had said last month it aims to focus on reducing costs, […] Read more
More pain in store for Canadian marijuana companies
Aurora Cannabis, Tilray cut jobs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto | Reuters — Investors are bracing for more job cuts and writedowns at Canadian cannabis producers before the industry stabilizes and becomes profitable, after two of the biggest weed companies, Aurora Cannabis and Tilray announced cost reductions this week. Canada legalized recreational cannabis in October 2018 but profits have proven elusive for most marijuana […] Read more
Cannabis patients boost Aurora edible sales
Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto | Reuters — Aurora Cannabis this week became the first major Canadian company to sell edibles and vapes for medical use, a small base that nevertheless helps shore up margins and paves the way for sales in the much larger European medical market. Medical marijuana has been legal in Canada since 2001, and recreational […] Read more
Pot producer Canopy Growth to stop expanding in Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canopy Growth Corp. on Thursday reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on soaring expenses and said it would not make any large investments to expand in Canada amid surplus supply and tepid demand for weed and weed products. The decision to hold expansion plans follows a wave of enthusiastic spending by marijuana companies to […] Read more
As ‘Cannabis 2.0’ kicks off, industry strangled by limited retail outlets
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — A year after Canada legalized use of recreational marijuana, cannabis stocks have lost half their market value, and investors betting that the launch of higher-margin pot-infused drinks and other products will quickly lift shares may be in for a bumpy ride. So-called cannabis 2.0 — legalization of marijuana derivatives including edibles, beverages, extracts […] Read more
Mexican Senate set to pass bill to legalize marijuana in next few days
Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico’s Senate will vote for a bill to fully legalize marijuana in the next few days, a key lawmaker told Reuters, marking a major step toward changing the country’s approach to the drug by removing it as a source of income for violent drug gangs. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
