Company says 14 positions will be affected, but if operations had started they were expected to create 145 jobs

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Canopy Growth is announcing it will not be opening its production facility in St. John’s.
Fourteen jobs will be “impacted,” according to the Canopy vice-president of communications Jordan Sinclair.

In a news release, Sinclair described the decision as "difficult," but apparently it is not one that came about suddenly. He also said it was made as part of a strategic business review that began earlier this year.

St. John's is not alone in being affected by the move. The company is also closing facilities in Fredericton, N.B.; Bowmanville, Ont, and Edmonton, as well as its outdoor production sites in Saskatchewan.

Two years ago, Canopy — which operates stores under the Tweed brand — announced the construction of a new $55 million, 150,000 square-foot production site in St. John’s, with the aim of producing up to 12,000 kilograms of high-quality cannabis annually and to serve as the hub for local research and development.

Canopy’s initial deal with the provincial government provided incentives to offset construction costs for the production facility, up to an amount of $40 million. That money was to go to the company through extra commissions on retail sales at its Tweed locations in this province.

Sinclair says money that went to the company through that deal will be returned.

“Canopy Growth will repay approximately $1.9 million for the reduced mark-up rates provided to CGC to offset the $95M capital expenditure the company invested to construct this facility,” he said.

The facility was part of a supply agreement with the provincial government first announced in late 2017, less than a year before the legalization of cannabis in Canada.

But while the building that would have housed the production facility in the east end of the city was completed, today’s announcement means it will not be put into operation.

If the site had become fully operational, it was expected to employ 145 full-time workers, but Sinclair says today’s announcement will affect 14 current employees

“These decisions are never easy and we want to thank the employees impacted for the contributions they made to Canopy Growth, as well as the government of Newfoundland and Labrador for supporting Canopy Growth as we worked to build this production facility,” he said.