W. Brett Wilson thinks the cannabis market is going to be far bigger than anyone is predicting.

Speaking to BNN Bloomberg on the same day Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) announced its $3.2-billion all-stock purchase of MedReleaf (LEAF.TO), the Canoe Financial chairman said forecasts are not even halfway to where he believes the recreational and medicinal markets can push licensed producers.

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“I happen to believe that the fundamentals, the forecasts that are being used to judge the size of the market… I think they're missing it by probably double,” Wilson told BNN Bloomberg.

“The market is much greater than anyone is forecasting.”

Wilson said he likes the deal between Aurora and MedReleaf, as companies continue to position themselves for legalization’s green light.

“It’s consolidation at its finest,” Wilson said. “Operating costs are going to continue to come down and they’ve got to keep their overhead managed. This is a chance to grow production into an exciting time in recreational cannabis.”

“So many LPs have come into the market and everyone’s kind of been stumbling over each other as to who’s going to take what position [and] where. We’re still refining the distribution model, but the LPs themselves are very quickly adding growing rooms, talking about how they’re going to keep their costs down and, of course, adding new products to the marketplace.

Wilson said that he believes that proof of the industry’s revenue and profit potential remains two years away, but said he’s not scared off by talk of a pot stocks bubble

“There’s some bubble in all of this, but we’ve got a market that’s on the [rise] and you have to believe in it,” he said.

“I’m a bigger believer in the size of the market than anyone’s forecasting. The federal government isn’t seeing numbers like I am.”