Canopy Growth, the main Canadian producer of this soft drug whose sale and consumption have been permitted for four years in this country, is laying off 800 of its employees. It also cut its production by more than half, and its stock market value fell by 90%. This testifies to the difficulty of this sector, first seen as an Eldorado.
With our correspondent in Quebec, Pascale Guericolas
Four years ago, everything goes very fast in the small town where the Canopy Growth facilities are located, not far from the Canadian capital of Ottawa. Houses spring up like mushrooms to accommodate the dozens of employees hired each week. In 2023, nothing is going well. Facilities where cannabis grows are closing. The company is restructuring and will be sourcing from other Canadian provinces.
This phenomenon affects several other producers in this sector, as noted by Pierre Leclerc, who heads the Association québécoise de l’industrie du cannabis: “ Production and marketing costs are very high. Maybe they had been undervalued at the start, but it was very difficult when we started to know that the operating costs were going to be so high. »
High taxes and strict standards
Companies in this sector pay more than half of their sales to governments. Moreover, the very strict quality standards imposed by the State sometimes oblige producers to destroy part of their harvest. Another problem, according to Pierre Leclerc, is the lack of public support, even for companies that do not use the plant’s psychotropic ingredient: “ It is very difficult to get some support or help from different ministry programs in Canada. »
Everything indicates that the Canadian cannabis industry could therefore continue to lose its feathers in the near future.
► To read also: Quebec restricts the use of cannabis, yet legal in Canada (in 2019)