As the one-year anniversary of the legalization of recreational cannabis approaches, an industry expert says the Prairie provinces are outpacing larger players Ontario and Quebec in the Canadian market with a smoother rollout and stronger sales.

"Manitoba and Saskatchewan are making Ontario and Quebec look very bad," said Chris Damas, editor of BCMI Cannabis Report, a newsletter for cannabis investors in Canada and the U.S.

In the two largest provinces, Damas said poor regulatory frameworks and slow-to-open stores meant the industry underperformed in its first year. He praised the framework in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan for allowing private retailers to sell product and opening the door to e-commerce.

Take a trip with me to southwestern Ontario, to a little town filled with history called Brantford. Well, it’s not that little; as of 2016, the population was almost 100,000 (97,496 to be exact) and has been growing steadily.

But historic, is an understatement. I could have sworn there was a ‘Part of our Heritage’ moment about the city. I could do a Top 10 list right now, but I’ll spare you and give you just one. Did you know that in 1874, the telephone was invented in Brantford?

Canadian cannabis business owners say they’re being punished by big banks backing away from bud.

Thomas H. Clarke was one of the first Canadians to legally sell marijuana, but has had to resort to becoming a cash-only business this week after the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) closed his account.

“They ditched me,” Clarke said in a phone interview.

He opened an account with the bank before receiving his licence to run, THC Distribution, calling it a cannabis accessories wholesale shop.

A joint venture between B.C. cannabis company Tilray Inc. and the world's largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to have CBD-infused drinks on the Canadian market as early as December, but says it needs more time to research beverages containing THC.

Fluent Beverage Company's chief executive Jorn Socquet said that through the two companies' previously-announced research partnership, it has determined how to formulate beverages containing cannabidiol, the non-intoxicating compound also known as CBD, in a way that keeps the active ingredients stable and potent over the lifecycle of the product.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, the cannabis compound which produces a high and is known as THC, has proven much more unstable, he added.

Cannabis and real estate go together like…

Well, actually they do because, as the Oct. 17 anniversary of recreational cannabis legalization nears, many real estate issues regarding the sale, use and growing of cannabis have arisen again, such as smoking or growing it in condos, the location of legal (or illegal) dispensaries and, of course, the smell.

Zoocasa has now published the results of their national Canadian cannabis and real estate sentiment survey. Some of the interesting findings include:

A former Kitchener, Ont. auto parts plant is revving up for its second act as a new, cutting-edge cannabis cultivation facility.

The retrofitting is being carried out at the behest of Canadian LP JWC Corp. and will be known as JWC 2. The facility has been designed to house up to 345,000 sq. ft. of growing space.

An Ontario appellate judge ruled on Wednesday to dismiss a motion by a group of disqualified cannabis store applicants requesting the province’s retail cannabis licensing process be suspended pending an appeal being heard.

“The process that the government has decided on should be permitted to proceed. If the moving parties are ultimately successful, they may have a remedy, at the very least, in damages,” Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Ian Nordheimer said in his remarks dismissing the stay motion.

The ruling will now see the application process to open 42 new cannabis stores in Ontario continue, although the proper roll-out of these new shops is expected to be delayed for some time.

Nearly one year since the legalization of cannabis in Canada, local producer WeedMD is harvesting one of Southwestern Ontario’s first outdoor crops.

The Strathroy-based producer and distributor began harvesting more than 11 hectares of cannabis. About 35 strains, including Ultra Sour, Pedro Sweet, and Ghost Train Haze, have being cultivated outside.

“This is one of the largest legal cannabis cultivations in the world,” Keith Merker, WeedMD’s chief executive, said in a speech at Thursday’s harvest event. “We kept growing, and we kept learning.”

More than 21,000 plants will be harvested by Oct. 19. While the wet spring delayed planting by three weeks to mid-June, WeedMD’s chief cannabis officer Derek Pedro said it’s been a successful first growing year.