What is projected to be one of Canada’s leading cannabis production and research facilities continues to overcome regulatory and zoning hurdles.

City council last week supported a rezoning application from agricultural to industrial designation for the Flowr Corporation project on two McCarthy Road lots, situated along the border of Lake Country and Kelowna.

And the company started a public hiring blitz last week to fill various positions in the cannabis cultivation, processing and research areas.

Flowr is operating an 84,000 sq.ft. space set aside for cultivation, processing and office space, and introduced designs to Kelowna council last week for an additional 50,000 sq.ft. research and development building component.

While much of the country is focused on cannabis as it relates to consumers — the countdown to legal weed on Oct. 17, protocols for marijuana retailers, penalties for impaired drivers, and so on — municipalities along Ontario’s south coast are busily trying to manage the growth of a nascent industry.

Here, the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes and the arrival of industrial-scale production have sprouted concerns that will only thicken in years ahead. After all, the time remaining before the recreational marijuana market opens up in Canada is about the same as the life cycle of a cannabis plant.

The buzz around Canada’s legal marijuana market has turned Ottawa’s National Access Cannabis (TSX-V:META) into a “bees’ nest of activity” – and the prospect of private pot retail in Ontario is only sweetening the local firm’s honeypot.

Kamloops will be home to British Columbia's first government-run cannabis store this fall — and it's now looking for staff.

A job fair is being held this week for positions at the shop ahead of the legalization of recreational marijuana in October.

"We are on the lookout for quite a few people," said Kate Bilney of the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch, which is overseeing the sale of cannabis in the province. About 20 people are needed for the first store, she said, from managers to assistants to cannabis consultants.

Experience in a legal grey zone

In any job posting, previous experience is a must. But when it comes to the budding cannabis industry, it's a challenge.

A former turkey farm near Carbonear may soon have a new lease on life — as a marijuana production facility.

A local businessman has partnered with a mainland company to try to make that happen.

"About two years ago I met some people who came down to see Targa and they approached and asked me would I be interested in get involved in a project. I love projects. That's what I do," said Robert Giannou, who is best known for starting Targa Newfoundland — a 2,200-km rally race through eastern and central parts of the island.

​I'm scared to death about what's happening in the economy ... we cannot afford to turn one job down in this province.- Robert Giannou

It's a blistering July afternoon at the Edmundston Truck Stop. The air vibrates with the low rumbling of a dozen idling 18-wheelers burning fuel.

For Chief Patricia Bernard of the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation, that's the sound of money. The big rigs have 600-plus litre tanks — and the band-owned gas bar is a popular spot to fill up before truckers hit the Quebec border. 

The Edmundston Truck Stop is a small part of the retail Grey Rock Power Centre. 

"See all those?" Bernard said. "Every time one of those big trucks fills up, that's a thousand dollars."

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR -- There’s a new cannabis business making its way to the province, and it could mean another 200 jobs in the Freshwater area, near Carbonear.

FSD Pharma announced an agreement to purchase 51 per cent of Atlantic Island Cannabis Thursday morning — what they are calling a “strategic investment of $40 million to bring economic benefits to the province of Newfoundland” with a “phased expansion plan in place to create 200 local management and construction jobs.”

The first phase of the project involves setting up an indoor cannabis production facility in Freshwater, on the current Noel’s Turkey Farm land. Owner Kerry Noel signed a land sale agreement with Atlantic Island Cannabis on Wednesday.

CREEMORE, ONT.—One really couldn’t script a more “of the moment” Canadian story: The Tragically Hip has quietly re-emerged into the public eye for the first time since frontman Gord Downie’s death from brain cancer last October, and broken an almost-total radio silence imposed for the past three years to talk about … marijuana.

FREDERICTON – Canopy Growth, one of the largest cannabis producers in the world, is investing $40 million in a new production facility in Fredericton. The Smiths Falls, Ont.–headquartered company will also create up to 136 jobs over the next six years.

Canopy Growth will be looking to fill various positions, including lab supervisors, technologists, growers, post-harvest crews, quality assurance experts, maintenance crews, and shipping and on-site retail staff.

So far, the company has hired five people and will host a job fair soon.

A couple of years ago, a slick group of strangers showed up in the office of Edward Garcia, mayor of this sleepy town in a lush agricultural valley in central Colombia. They wanted to talk about marijuana.