Alberta’s newest medical marijuana operation is planting the seeds that could turn the quiet hamlet of Peers into one of the crown jewels in Canada’s cannabis kingdom.

In March, Acreage Pharma Ltd. became the second licensed pot producer in the province, opening a 630-square-metre facility near the tiny community south of the McLeod River.

But that building is just the start. Company co-founder Trevor Dixon hopes to break ground soon on a larger plant beside it, and is looking at a 23,000-square-metre third phase that would place the overall development among the country’s largest cannabis producers.

Peers has about 100 residents around three commercial blocks that include a weatherbeaten hotel, a food store and a 90-year-old United Church that badly needs painting.

Dixon, who expects most of the nearly 150 employees at the three phases would live nearby, thinks the district’s future is “fantastic.”

“We have not heard anybody oppose what we’re doing here,” he says during a recent tour.

“Peers is starting to feel it already. We’re injecting quite a bit of cash into the community through the creation of quality jobs … It’s a big boost to the area, and we’re doing that without any effluent.”

No sign marks the entrance to the facility, which is hidden from the road by trees. The windowless green metal-clad structure is surrounded by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire that like the rest of the site is under constant surveillance by 62 cameras.

The medical marijuana production facility near Peers. Ed Kaiser/Postmedia  ED KAISER / 20080213A

Dixon says it’s a top-notch spot for a grow op. A local boy who moved to the Okanagan decades ago, he rapidly ticks off the advantages — good security, low humidity that allows better control of mould and other plant ailments, cheap power and long winters that keep down insects.

He’s not concerned with being out in the country 180 km west of Edmonton, saying Canada Post is keen to be their courier — customers can’t buy in stores — and they’ll have same-day delivery.

He based the operation in 60 hectares of rolling, wooded recreational property crossed by an old settlers’ road that’s been in his family for 54 years.

“It’s a beautiful chunk of land with wild blueberries, all kinds of wildlife. Back 50 years ago, we burned the wood for heat,” says Dixon, who to supervise work now splits his time between his house in West Kelowna and his old family home.

He spent 20 years developing and franchising a national bathroom renovation company before selling out and, describing himself as bored, becoming a B.C. municipal councillor.

Five years ago, he realized the medical pot industry’s potential, saying firms can make lots of money because they handle the entire business from production to dispensing.

“We’re totally vertically integrated. There’s no middle man,” he says.

“The returns are better than typical businesses, and they have to be, because Health Canada wants businesses to be able to succeed in this regulated industry so the public gets safe products.”

‘A lifelong passion’

The 58-year-old is a true believer in what he sells. For the last couple of years he has taken a daily dab of cannabidoil, one of the compounds found in cannabis, that he says has vastly reduced his symptoms from serious osteoarthritis, cut his cholesterol levels and improved his eyesight.

“It has become a lifelong passion. I won’t retire. I will stay in the industry for the betterment of knowledge and to provide for as many individuals as I can,” he says.

“I couldn’t turn a door handle four years ago. Now I can do all this.”

He and his sister Brenda, his partner, provided Health Canada with 4,400 pages of detailed information as part of the exhaustive process to receive a producer’s licence.

Fort Knox 

Security at the facility is tight.

The perimeter fence contains vibration sensors, visitors and the 15 staff must swipe fobs and enter codes on a keypad before any doors open, and workers wear T-shirts to ensure there’s nothing illicit up their sleeves.

Walls are made of steel-reinforced concrete, and pending shipments are stored in a vault.

“They had us build these things like Fort Knox so anybody who wants to case them out will determine quite quickly it’s just not worth it,” Dixon says.

Anyone going inside has to wear plastic booties or special sterilized shoes and the air is highly filtered to stop outside contamination because the cannabis is grown without pesticides.

But there’s not much to see. The four rooms where crops are propagated and raised, each containing 400 to 500 plants, are off-limits, while the space where dried cannabis will be packaged in five- to 30-gram bags for sale or processed into oil is waiting for the first harvest in July.

At average prices of $5 to $12 a gram, the annual 600 kg output could be worth about $5 million. Phase three is projected to put out 25,000 kg annually.

Last month, Vancouver’s Invictus MD Strategies Corp. bought Acreage Pharms for $6 million, 20 million shares (now worth about $1.50 each) and other considerations.

Trevor Dixon standing in the medical marijuana centre he co-founded. Ed Kaiser/Postmedia  ED KAISER / 20080213A

Dixon became chief executive of Invictus and his sister was named chief science officer. They’re the largest shareholders in Invictus, which also owns part of a Hamilton, Ont., licensed producer.

Alberta’s only other licensed grower is north of Calgary in Cremona. Owner Aurora Cannabis Inc. is constructing a 75,000-square-metre structure beside the Edmonton International Airport that it calls the world’s biggest legal pot producer.

Dixon isn’t concerned. The company owns more land near Peers than is used by Canada’s other 43 licensed cannabis producers, and business is booming, especially with the prospect of legalized recreational sales next year.

“There’s a real shortage of medical cannabis in the marketplace. It looks like it will take a few years for the industry to catch up,” he says, adding consistency is one of the keys to success.

“That’s important for the recreational market as well. They find something that’s just their favourite … you better have it the next time.”