Ottawa-area cannabis producer Canopy Growth has added another province to its distribution channels, this time signing a deal to provide pot to Prince Edward Island alongside two other distributors in advance of legalized recreational use later this year.
Shares of Canopy Growth (TSX:WEED) reached an all-time high of $44 last week, though prices have settled to around $37.54 in early afternoon trading Wednesday.
Though Canopy Growth has yet to set down seeds in the territories and Nova Scotia, PEI is just the latest national move for the country’s largest pot producer.
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Whether in the form of deals with provincial governments, acting as a distribution channel for regional growers or developing its own grow-ops across the country, Canopy Growth has edged its way into nearly every province in Canada:
Atlantic Canada
Outside of PEI, Canopy has significant business with other maritime provinces.
The firm is opening a $40-million production plant in the St. John’s, Newfoundland, area alongside four private retail stores to supply pot to the Rock. CEO Bruce Linton said last month that custom cannabis brands produced in the province have great potential for sales elsewhere in Canada.
Along the coast, Canopy also locked down a $40-million supply deal with New Brunswick. The company will provide roughly four million grams of cannabis and derivatives over the next two years.
Central
Much of Canopy’s growth comes from the central provinces. The firm announced in December that it would convert a tomato greenhouse in Quebec into a cannabis grow-op with a partner in the province. That facility is expected to be up and running by April.
Canopy’s biggest production footprint is in the province of Ontario, where it makes its home. It completed the acquisition of its entire Smith Falls base, a former Hershey’s chocolate factory, this time last year. The $6.6-million deal gave the firm 472,000 square feet of production space.
Canopy also has grow-ops in southwestern Ontario. Its Tweed Farms greenhouse at Niagara-on-the-Lake provides another 350,000 square feet of production space, and its Bedrocan Canada facility in Toronto – acquired in 2015 – adds another 50,000 square feet to the total.
Prairies
Last November, Canopy Growth added both Alberta’s Sweetgrass and Manitoba’s Delta 9 Cannabis to its distribution channels. Pending license approvals, the two brands will sell their products under Canopy’s CraftGrow line through the Tweed Main Street online portal. PEI-based Canada’s Island Gardens also has a distribution agreement under the CraftGrow line.
Last May, Canopy acquired Saskatchewan’s rTrees Producers. The brand will operate as Tweed Grasslands when licensed, with current production facilities of 90,000 square feet and the potential to expand to more than 300,000 square feet based on demand.
B.C.
Further west, Canopy is developing up to three million square feet of growing capacity in British Columbia through a joint venture with a large-scale greenhouse operator. Linton says the firm will initially pay $20 million to adapt 1.3 million square feet of existing greenhouses – currently used to grow peppers – into suitable grounds for cannabis production.
If the firm exercises its option to use an additional 1.7 million square feet, the final product will leave Canopy Growth with more than four million square feet of growing space in Canada.
