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Photo by Courtesy of Mastronardi family / Windsor Star

Last September, Natura was issued a cannabis cultivating licence by Health Canada and has since been converting its 662,000-square-foot hydroponic operation into a medical marijuana-growing facility.

As of this week, there are 115 licensed producers in Canada, more than half of which (62) are located in Ontario. All of those with cultivation and sales licences will also be approved to grow and supply the recreational market — expected to generate billions in annual sales in Canada.

Natura Natural’s greenhouse operation is next door to Aphria Inc.’s Leamington base. Emblem Cannabis Corp., with lab and processing facilities in Paris, has a current market capitalization of about $127 million, compared to Aphria’s $2.4 billion.

Ethan Karayannopoulos, spokesman for investor relations at Emblem, said the goal is to have Natura’s Leamington cannabis output used to supply Emblem’s Paris operations. He said the company’s longer-term strategy is to focus on value-added products such as edibles, topical creams and infused beverages — all of which will remain illegal after Oct. 17 but which are expected to eventually be approved.

The Natura spokesman said the company is “in constant growth mode” and is likely to continue hiring “for the coming months.” Job openings now posted online at indeed.ca, include those for greenhouse workers ($14 an hour) and production/packaging associates ($16 an hour).

Under a phased conversion, Emblem anticipates up to 15,000 kilograms of annualized cannabis production at Natura in 2018. Once fully built out in 2019 and federally approved, the company estimates the Leamington facility will have an annualized cannabis production capacity of about 70,000 kg. The company reports it already had $3 million in equity investment in Natura and had entered into a supply agreement for 3,000 kg per year. The new acquisition deal includes mortgage financing, common shares and $25 million in cash.