Biome Grow says its 100 per cent-owned Newfoundland and Labrador-based subsidiary, The Back Home Medical Cannabis Corporation, expects to complete construction of its first in-province cannabis production facility in 2018.

Back Home is a late-stage applicant under Canada’s Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations, according to a prepared release from Biome.

Biome acquired Back Home April 25, however Biome’s construction and design teams have been working on this project since December of 2017.

Biome and Back Home anticipate being in a position to grow cannabis in 2018 from its first production facility located in Barachois Brook, subject to Back Home’s receipt of a cultivation licence from Health Canada.

Biome plans to have about 170,000 square feet of production facilities built at Barachois Brook before the end of 2019. The production capacity of these facilities will provide residents of the province with locally sourced products and services, as well as have capability to supply other provinces in Canada and international markets.

Based on current marketplace information, Back Home expects to have the largest production footprint in its home province through at least 2019.

Back Home’s president is David Callahan, who has run several successful businesses in the St. George’s area and he’s one of the founders of Back Home.

“I am beyond happy for what this project means for our area from employment opportunities to establishing this province as a leader in the fast-growing global cannabis marketplace,” he said.

Callahan said it’s a new industry still defining itself and he has joined the best team possible to build an innovative and impactful cannabis business.

“I want to keep people from Newfoundland and Labrador here and may even get a few to come ‘Back Home’ because of this opportunity. I look forward to the future of my home province and to the future of Biome Grow,” he said.

Callahan said the production facility will be located on a 120-acre property with an 18,000 square-foot renovation ongoing in an existing building, a 50,000 square-foot phase two building starting in June to be finished by the last quarter of 2018. Another 100,000 square-foot addition is planned to start in the spring of 2019 .

Biome looks forward to disclosing additional elements of the local cannabis ecosystem it is building in Newfoundland and Labrador in the coming weeks, including distribution, local partnerships, and additional Back Home team members.