Maple Leaf Green World (MGW) has entered into a non-binding agreement with High Tide Ventures Inc. to supply up to 2,000 kilograms of cannabis and cannabis products.
MGW’s soon-to-be completed cultivation facility in Telkwa would be responsible for the supply.
“We were happy to enter into the agreement,” MGW vice president of business development and marketing Jameson Welbourn said. “We believe [High Tide is] building a really good team and are going to have well educated staff to promote high quality cannabis and cannabis products.”
No formal contract has been signed or agreed to by either company.
High Tide is an Alberta-based cannabis accessories corporation that is in the process of becoming a licensed wholesaler of cannabis in Saskatchewan.
Retail and wholesale of cannabis is conducted by the private sector in Saskatchewan but is regulated by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority.
“We’re excited to work with a grower that’s focused on making high-quality, organic, contaminant-free cannabis products,” High Tide chief strategy officer and senior vice president of capital markets Nick Kuzyk said. “We feel privileged to be selected as one of their potential partners for Saskatchewan.”
MGW’s Telkwa facility would produce and process medical and recreational cannabis.
On the recreational side of things MGW will sell dried flower and pre-rolls. MGW will sell dried flower for its medical line as well, Welbourn said.
The company is also looking into getting the technology to make decarboxylated milled cannabis capsules.
Construction of the Telkwa facility has been split into two phases. The first phase of the facility will be just over 27,000 square feet and is expected to be completed by the end of October, Welbourn said.
After getting a license to cultivate the facility would harvest some crop to send to Health Canada for testing. If the products pass Health Canada’s test the company expects to get a license to sell cannabis in the first quarter of next year.
The second phase of construction could add up to an additional 80,000 square feet to the facility. There is no timeline on when the phase two would begin.
“When we see the demand and we can justify the demand it could be sooner; if we have some internal decisions about where to allocate capital it could be later, but we’re very excited about the opportunity and we’ll be ready to execute on our phase two as soon as we possibly can,” Welbourn said.
Approximately 50 jobs will be created during phase one of the facility Welbourn said.
MGW announced the cultivation and extraction team for the facility last week. Denis Street Jr. will be the cultivation operations manager at the under-construction plant.
In 2015, Street won first place at the Chalice Cup cannabis competition in California and first place for People’s Choice Flower at the Connoisseur Cup in Colorado.
Kenneth Suydam will oversee all cultivation and extraction activities for MGW as head of cultivation and cannabis technologies. Suydam took home the world’s first ever rosin award for resin at the 2015 Chalice Awards.
“These guys were selected because of their passion for cannabis and growing quality cannabis products,” Welbourn said. “They’re able to train the local workforce on the nuances of what’s being developed in places like Denver or Nevada where recreational legalization has already taken place and the industry has excelled forward.”