Beleaguered Canadian cannabis producer Canopy Growth Corp. is closing another massive greenhouse and laying off staff as part of the Smiths Falls, Ontario-based company’s efforts to cut costs amid ballooning losses.
The sprawling 23-acre property in Niagara-on-the-Lake to be shuttered was acquired in 2014 as only the company’s second subsidiary.
Canopy delivered the news to employees at the Niagara site Friday morning, a spokesperson confirmed to MJBizDaily.
Roughly 30 employees were immediately let go.
The news was first reported by BNN Bloomberg.
“This site optimization supports both our path to profitability and the realization of efficiencies from the acquisition of Supreme,” the spokesperson said.
“Recognizing the valuable skills of our team members at the Niagara production site, we are pleased to be offering roles for the majority to transfer their employment to an alternate Canopy facility.”
Canopy will use its remaining sites to produce the cannabis required for its consumer products, including its recently acquired facility in Kincardine, Ontario.
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Canopy acquired the 440,000-square-foot Kincardine facility via its acquisition of Supreme Cannabis earlier this year. The building had a production capacity of 50,000 kilograms (110,231 pounds) per year, according to a Supreme filing.
The Niagara-on-the-Lake site is one of Canopy’s oldest assets.
Canopy, then called Tweed Marijuana, acquired the property on June 19, 2014, when it purchased Park Lane, aka Prime1 Construction Services Corp., for 2 million Canadian dollars ($1.5 million) in stock and cash, according to regulatory filings.
That day, Park Lane exercised its purchase option to acquire the 350,000-square-foot greenhouse, land and a house in Niagara-on-the-Lake for CA$3.2 million.
The name was changed to Tweed Farms.
Back then, Canopy had only two wholly owned subsidiaries, Tweed, in Smiths Falls, and Prime1, in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Canopy has lost CA$3.8 billion since 2015.
In its latest financial disclosure, Canopy reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of CA$162.6 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2021.
Canopy shares trade as WEED on the Toronto Stock Exchange and CGC on the Nasdaq exchange.
Matt Lamers can be reached at matt.lamers@mjbizdaily.com.
