With the legalization of recreational marijuana on the horizon, a Canadian pot producer has unveiled plans for a new $10-million processing and distribution plant in London.
Tilray, a medical cannabis company based in British Columbia, announced the new facility on Wednesday as part of the creation of subsidiary High Park Company.
The 56,000 sq ft London plant will process dried cannabis, grown at High Park Farms in Enniskillen Township, into finished products for recreational use. The facility location and the number of people it will employ has not been released but it is expected to open before the end of the year, pending required regulatory approvals.
“Excitement is building for the launch of the world’s largest federally legal cannabis market and High Park will be a part of history when it happens,” said Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy. “We are proud that the addition of High Park will bring our total investment in Canada to more than $100 million and grow our Canadian workforce to more than 500 professionals in the next several years.”
Tilray opened its first federally-licensed medical marijuana greenhouse in Nanaimo, B.C. in 2014. In response to growing demand, it later announced the creation of a second operation on LaSalle Line in Enniskillen. The 13 acres of greenhouse, dubbed High Park Farms, will begin operations once construction is completed later this year.
The federal government introduced legislation last spring to legalize recreational marijuana by this summer. The bill, known as Bill C-45, narrowly made it through second reading in the Senate last month and is now being reviewed by committee.
It is estimated roughly 4.9 million Canadians aged 15 to 64 spent roughly $5.7-billion on cannabis for medical and non-medical purposes last year, according to figures from Statistics Canada.