Hydropothecary is moving up to the Toronto Stock Exchange with a new brand to tackle the soon-to-be-legal recreational cannabis market.
The Gatineau-based cannabis producer announced Thursday that its shares, currently traded under THCX on the TSX Venture Exchange, would make the jump to the Toronto Stock Exchange beginning Friday morning. The firm is also slated to ring the opening bell at the TSX to begin the day of trading.
“Graduating to a major exchange such as the TSX demonstrates Hydropothecary’s growth and proven ability to execute,” said Hydropothecary CEO Sebastien St-Louis in a statement.
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Along with the move, Hydropothecary will adopt both a new corporate name and trading symbol, HEXO. The new brand will adorn the firm’s “adult-use” offerings while the Hydropothecary name will remain on its medicinal cannabis. The company will hold a special shareholders meeting next week seeking approval for the new name.
Hydropothecary made its public debut in March of 2017 on the TSX-V. The firm announced plans in December of that year to develop an $80-million, one-million-square-foot pot production facility in Gatineau. When that facility is complete, alongside a still under-construction 250,000-square-foot greenhouse, the company’s total production capacity will allow it to grow 108,000 kilograms of cannabis annually.
St-Louis has said the company’s goal is to become the “Coca-Cola of cannabis,” and it has made some progress in Canada’s increasingly consolidated industry. In April, the company struck a five-year, 200-tonne supply deal with the Societe des alcools du Quebec. With an aim to capture 10 per cent of Canada’s total cannabis market, the firm closed a $150-million offering in January to expand its national reach.
With the Senate of Canada officially passing legislation on Tuesday to legalize the use and retail of recreational cannabis come the fall, Hydropothecary was not the only local pot firm eyeing moves on the public markets this week.
LiveWell Canada, which is converting greenhouse space in Metcalfe into a cannabis production facility, announced it had secured a listing on the TSX Venture Exchange. Smiths Falls-based Canopy Growth closed a $500-million financing round and expanded a planned raise for its investment arm Canopy Rivers, which is also slated to go public this summer. CannaRoyalty also announced plans to raise $30 million to deepen its roots in the California cannabis market.