Canopy Growth Corporation’s President, Mark Zekulin along with President of Niagara College Canada, Dan Patterson, announced Tuesday their new partnership to provide experiential learning opportunities to students and graduates interested in pursuing careers in Canada’s flourishing legal cannabis industry.

The announcement took place at Canopy Growth’s Tweed Farms facility, located in the heart of South Western Ontario’s Wine Country, Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL), a less than ten minute drive from the college campus.

Canopy Growth was North America’s first federally regulated, publicly traded cannabis company, and their new partnership with Niagara College speaks to their commitment to education and training investment to ensure a successful legal, Canadian cannabis industry.

Niagara College’s Commercial Cannabis Production (CCP) Graduate Certificate Program will launch September 2018. The CCP program is Canada’s first post-secondary credential in commercial cannabis production. Classes will be held at the NOTL campus in a fully secure, state of the art facility.

The program has received a lot of attention from interested students with well over 300 applications already received as of March 2018. However, only 24 students will be accepted into the first cohort for September 2018 to ensure each student receives the attention they need from faculty and access to the equipment and facilities.

To enter the program, students must already have a diploma or degree in horticulture, greenhouse technology, agricultural sciences, plant sciences, biology or a related field. Upon completion, CCP graduates will be able to pursue careers in positions such as growers, operation managers, post-harvest and propagation operations as well as quality control and assurance with licensed producers like Canopy Growth.

 “As we continue our growth, it’s essential to find candidates and employees with industry-specific knowledge,” said Mark Zekulin, President of Canopy Growth Corp. “We look forward to working Niagara College to educate and invest in our future workforce as we build and define this exciting new industry.”

Canopy Growth will provide internship and co-op opportunities for students in the College’s CCP program, Horticultural Technician, Greenhouse Technician and Business Programs.

Placements will mostly take place in Niagara-on-the-Lake at the Tweed Farms facility, currently one of the largest licensed producers in the world. The Farms is a Canadian Company licensed under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes regulations. They produce large quantities of environmentally friendly cannabis with the use of recycled rainwater.

Additional placement opportunities will be available at Canopy Growth’s 12 other facilities in seven provinces across the country including Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, British Columbia, Quebec as well as Newfoundland and Labrador.

Tweed Farms is a Canadian Company licensed under the Access to Cannabis for Medical purposed regulations and is currently one of the largest licensed producers in the world.

“Partnering with a world-leading organization like Canopy Growth will open up new career and development opportunities for our students and graduates and give them a head start in this very competitive market,” said Dan Patterson, President of Niagara College.

The CCP program responds to the plea from businesses currently in the medical cannabis industry for knowledgeable growers, and with their new partnership, students and graduates from the program will help to support the workforce demand at Canopy Growth’s facilities, especially as they continue to expand.

Expansions are currently underway at the Tweed Farms facility to bring the site from 350,000 sq. ft. to approximately 1 million sq. ft. by the summer. There are currently over 80 employees working at the location and it’s expected that by July that number will increase to over 180.