Tilray Inc. is looking to become the next big publicly traded medical cannabis producer.

According to people familiar with the matter, the British Columbia-based company is working with BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. and New York City-based investment bank Cowen and Co. on an initial public offering. At this time, Tilray is weighing a listing south of the border, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details aren’t public.

As Canada’s last major privately owned marijuana grower, Tilray has watched from the sidelines as dozens of other cannabis companies have gone public in Canada to great fanfare and used their shares as currency to make acquisitions.

Along with creating a multi-billion dollar industry, Canada’s impending legalization of adult recreational use marijuana is about to push forward wider societal changes —and not just in how we spend our leisure hours and dollars but in how the use and abuse of cannabis will play out in the workplace.

And while much is still to be decided concerning legal pot’s new role in Canadian society, it’s clear that along with law enforcement having to contend with a new set of parameters, human resources departments across the country will soon be taxed with contending with cannabis.

One noted tech entrepreneur, the co-founder of both Kobo and League, thinks we should be having a dialogue about corporate policies for cannabis use.

The second annual O’Cannabiz Conference and Expo brought thousands of cannabis industry professionals, investors, patients and consumers together in Toronto mere weeks before cannabis legalization is supposed to take place across Canada.

The Conference took place last week over the course of three days at Toronto’s International Centre. Over 200 cannabis business exhibitors featured their products and services on the expo floor while over 130 industry professionals lead various seminars and panel discussions to highlight important aspects of the industry, from legislation to new trends in cannabis cosmetics.

Canada's leading cannabis education and analytics company partners with internationally respected authority on public awareness and education to deliver comprehensive certification training for provincial and private cannabis retailers.

Lift & Co. is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement with MADD Canada for an exclusive partnership to train and certify retail cannabis staff across Canada. The Lift & Co. Cannabis Retail Certification (the "Certification") blends self-guided, online materials with in-class components administered by MADD Canada. Lift & Co.'s training leverages the company's four years of experience educating the legal cannabis market and MADD Canada's recognized expertise in responsible consumption.

Communities without liquor store have more time to decide.

It will likely be months before cannabis becomes legally available across Canada and in the Northwest Territories, but one significant deadline looms for six communities in the N.W.T.

Municipalities with liquor stores have until July 16 to notify the government if a cannabis plebiscite to ban or restrict local sales is needed. Communities in the N.W.T. with liquor stores are Yellowknife, Hay River, Inuvik, Fort Smith, Norman Wells and Fort Simpson.

According to a government press release, once cannabis is available through a retail outlet, local governments will no longer be able to hold a plebiscite.

The Canadian cannabis market now sits on the verge of a seismic shift as Canada is on track to federally legalize adult-use cannabis this summer. This has already enticed investors to pour billions of dollars into cannabis companies, attracting adjacent industries, from tobacco to alcohol to pharma. This activity is the harbinger of developments to come with the next two waves of adult-use legalization near: dried leaf and oils later in 2018 and an expanded product range in 2019.

Technology has become such an integral part of our lives that many of us often wonder how we could live without it. If you’re reading this, it’s very possible you have a computer that you can carry around in your pocket, with access to the collected knowledge of the human race at your fingertips anywhere you go. Technological advances are shaping many different industries in surprising ways.

Here’s how technology is affecting the cannabis industry specifically, and how it might continue to change things well into the future.

Cannabis Intellectual Property

The Maritimes budding marijuana industry is showing signs of growth this weekend in New Brunswick.

One of the region’s big players is expanding its workforce, and at the same time, industry leaders from around the world will soon be arriving for an international meeting on the future of the business.

Organigram already has close to 300 employees at its rapidly expanding facility in Moncton, and that number is poised to grow even larger.

“We’re looking for approximately another 100 people, and that’s an immediate need, so this won’t be our last job fair,” says Jeff Purcell, Organigram’s Vice President of Operations.

Ads on Facebook and Google are prohibited and dispensaries can't be listed on a Google map.

The rules around how recreational marijuana can be marketed was one of the issues discussed at the Canadian Cannabis Summit in Calgary.

Some in the industry fear the rules will present a challenge for cannabis companies, given that ads on Facebook and Google are prohibited, and dispensaries can't be listed on a Google map.

But Crystal DeCnodder, the summit's co-founder, doesn't think starting off with tighter rules is necessarily a bad thing.

The Ontario election is not the only crucial vote to be decided on June 7. As of this writing, senators are set to hold a vote on cannabis legislation on the same night. If the bill is passed, it will head to the House of Commons for final approval. If it does not pass, we may be headed for a disappointing delay that could stretch into the fall and winter months.