A poll by Goldbeck Recruiting Inc. indicates that stigma and personal bias may play bigger roles in the potential of the cannabis industry in Canada than previously thought.

Results reflect input from 1,521 members of the Angus Reid Forum, an online public opinion community in which people across Canada answer surveys on various topics in exchange for points that can be redeemed for prizes or rewards.

Goldbeck gleaned data from the polls in creating its 2020 Cannabis Labour Market report, which explores why job-seekers are willing (or not willing) to work in the cannabis industry.

Canopy Growth Corp. said it will shut down two major cannabis production facilities and lay off about 500 staff in an effort to restructure its operations to better address changing consumer demand in the Canadian pot sector.

The Smiths Falls, Ont.-based company said its facilities in Aldergrove and Delta, B.C. represent about three million square feet of production space and will be shuttered, resulting in the reduction of about 500 jobs. Canopy will also halt plans to build a greenhouse in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., the company said.

Amid layoffs appearing as a constant, The Supreme Cannabis Company is the latest in the industry to let a percentage of its staff go.

The Supreme Cannabis Co. is the latest cannabis company to announce a series of layoffs, after the pot producer said it would shed 15 per cent of its staff to focus on “near-term revenue growth” late Tuesday.

The company said one-third of its corporate-designated jobs would be cut, while about 13 per cent of its production staff would also be reduced. Supreme Cannabis has about 700 staff, according to the company. It will also stop its plans to invest in the UK and European cannabis industries, while maintaining its existing investments in Lesotho and its Truverra CBD business.

The cannabis industry may be having growing pains, but that’s not stopping job-seekers from searching for their place.

Indeed Canada, a website that aggregates job openings, shared its most clicked-on jobs with The GrowthOp. The job search engine evaluated data from Jan. 20, 2019 to Jan. 20, 2020, and looked at titles that involved “cannabis,” “budtender” and “marijuana” as the search terms.

British Columbia college is looking to supply a fresh batch of professionally-trained budtenders to the province’s growing cannabis retail market.

Okanagan College announced last week a new online Cannabis Retail Sales course set to launch Feb. 17 — increasing the total number of cannabis-related courses it offers to eight.

Okanagan College instructor Christopher Simpson used his industry experience to develop the new cannabis retail course. Photo courtesy of Okanagan College

For many cannabis cultivators, the strongest impetus to redesign their indoor facility is to ensure sustainability and reduce their carbon footprint. And for good reason: Growing cannabis indoors can be an energy-intensive endeavor and bad for the environment. Cultivating a single crop from seed to harvest is accompanied by literal tons of carbon emissions -- not to mention high energy costs.

But before jumping into a project like this, you should be aware that designing a grow facility can be a complex process that shouldn’t be rushed. Many small yet critical details need to be considered otherwise you may be on the path to serious complications down the road.

Last month, the B.C. labour board conducted a union vote at Tilray's cannabis facility in Nanaimo. While the ballot box is currently sealed, it could become the first cannabis producer to be unionized in Canada.

Stateside, the United Food and Commercial Workers union already has collective agreements at cannabis production facilities in California, Oregon, Minnesota, New Mexico, Washington and Colorado.

Call it a sign of the times: McGill University will teach students how to grow the perfect pot plant starting next year.

McGill’s Diploma in Commercial Cannabis program launches in June and it’s meant to train biologists to cultivate cannabis, design strains, protect them against contaminants and understand the legal framework of Canada’s burgeoning weed industry.

While Guelph University has a cannabis cultivation course and there are college-level programs geared toward the industry, McGill is the first among U15 Canadian Research Universities to go all-in on weed.

When Alycia Walker worked as a publicist at an agency in downtown Toronto, she yearned to trade the towers and traffic for trees and tranquillity without giving up her marketing career.

“My husband and I were looking to get out of the city,” she says. “He owns his own landscaping company and we’ve been long-time cottagers in Muskoka, so we were always looking for an opportunity. I just honestly never thought it would come.”

Walker rejoiced when one of the agency’s clients, Muskoka Grown, needed a marketing manager a few hours north of the city, in cottage country. She and her husband have lived in the region for about a year now, and the self-proclaimed cottager says they’re part of a burgeoning community of former urbanites — thanks in part to the cannabis industry.