Province Brands of Canada — the Canadian company developing a suite of premium non-alcoholic, cannabis-powered beers and spirits including the world's first beer brewed from the cannabis plant — has announced the closing of its Series A round of funding with $10.95-million raised by 91 accredited investors. Province Brands of Canada initiated this funding round in April of 2018, and its closing brings the total funding raised by the company since its launch to more than $15-million.

Constellation Brands, a massive alcohol beverage company, is investing $5 billion into Smiths Falls, Ont.-based cannabis company Canopy Growth.

According to a press release, Constellation Brands is increasing its ownership of Canopy Growth, the world's largest publicly traded cannabis company, to 38 per cent by acquiring 104.5 million shares.

"Through this investment, we are selecting Canopy Growth as our exclusive global cannabis partner," said Rob Sands, CEO of Constellation Brands, in the press release. "Over the past year, we've come to better understand the cannabis market, the tremendous growth opportunity it presents, and Canopy's market-leading capabilities in this space."

Cannabis vape pens can be found in several dispensaries across Vancouver. But after October 17, cannabis concentrates and vape pens will not be allowed.

Vape pens allow cannabis users to ingest concentrated extracts from the cannabis plant.

Cannabis concentrates usually consist of THC extract, or the less psychoactive component, CBD. They are sold in either liquid form or a waxy substance.

Vape pens are portable battery-powered devices.They are easy to use, do not produce any smoke and emit little odour. 

Ontario is ditching plans for government-run cannabis outlets in favour of letting private businesses run the shops.

The last-minute switch means people in Ontario won’t be able to shop in any stores at all when recreational marijuana becomes legal across the country on Oct. 17.

The government aims to have private stores running by April 1, 2019, which leaves time for wide consultations about the new system, Finance Minister Vic Fedeli said Monday.

However, cannabis will be sold online for home delivery on Day 1, Fedeli promised.

The Ontario Cannabis Retail Corp., the subsidiary of the LCBO set up by the previous Liberal government, will still act as a wholesaler and be responsible for online sales.

The Flowr Group (Okanagan) Inc., a cultivator of premium cannabis in Canada, announced today that it has received its sales license from Health Canada.  The license enables Flowr to sell to the Canadian medical and adult-use recreational markets.

Flowr will begin selling to the medical market in the coming weeks and the recreational market when it opens in October.  Flowr recently was selected by the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch to supply premium cannabis to province-owned dispensaries and the company is in discussions with other provinces where it believes it can obtain prices commensurate with the quality of the Flowr products.  The company has agreements in place with several major medical cannabis distributors as well.

B.C.’s Liquor Distribution Branch has made its second product call for licensed marijuana growers, adding to the 150 cannabis types it signed up in July to prepare for provincial stores to open in October.

Applications from federally licensed producers of dried cannabis, oils, capsules and seed are being accepted until the end of August, to add to the accepted products from large producers that will stock both private and LDB stores in B.C.

With the legalization of marijuana only two months away, new Statistics Canada data shows urban northerners smoke pot more frequently than their provincial counterparts.

Statistics Canada released the second-quarter results of its National Cannabis Survey on Thursday. It compared data collected from residents in the three northern capitals with those in the 10 provinces.

- IN DEPTH | Cannabis as colonialism? N.W.T. woman says government shouldn't 'impose' legalization

In Spruce Grove, Alta., people camped out by city hall, waiting for the doors to open so they could apply to open a cannabis store.

In other places in the province, retailers are signing leases with rents that are as much as twice the usual rate, in the hope they will eventually win the right to sell marijuana in those locations.

In Ontario, veteran retailer Michael Serruya says he has identified 27 future locations for cannabis shops – even though the province’s new government hasn’t officially said whether it will allow a single privately owned store to sell recreational marijuana.

Just as digital transformation has disrupted legacy business models, cannabis legalization will fundamentally challenge workplace policies.

On Oct. 17, recreational marijuana will officially become legal in Canada. According to a recent study conducted by Deloitte, 22 per cent of the Canadian adult population consumes recreational cannabis at least occasionally, and a further 17 per cent show some willingness to try it.

Canada’s new recreational cannabis industry is set to boost retail opportunities from coast to coast, but it’s becoming increasingly clear those businesses and their products will not be consistently available across Canada. 

Varying retail regulations and business models within the provinces and territories are making some markets more attractive than others, experts say. Meanwhile, some municipalities have decided to ban cannabis retailers within their borders, despite nationwide legalization of recreational marijuana possession set to occur on Oct. 17.

Retail landlords around the country should be paying close attention to the emergence of recreational cannabis in their markets, said Dan Rowland, a Denver-based cannabis industry consultant.