Legal cannabis in Canada looms in the near future, with recreational sales expected to start in July. The Canadian cannabis market is predicted to be a $22.6 billion industry, with some 150,000 positions to fill before things get rolling. Canada needs weed workers in all areas from growing and trimming to sales, marketing, and research.

Cannabis Business in Canada is Booming

Companies across the country are getting ready for cannabis sales to start, employing countless people in the process. Aurora, one of Canada’s biggest licensed growers, is literally hiring for all kinds of positions.

As a company that started in 2016 with 35 employees, it now employs some 500. This number is expected to double in the next year. Aurora is scheduled to open an 800,000 square-foot production facility by May and needs to hire people from growers and harvesters to people with advanced degrees in science.

In Sherwood, Saskatchewan, a rural community of around 1,000 people, OneLeaf Cannabis Corporation is planning on building a 44,000 square-foot growing facility. They also plan to employ approximately 10 percent of the town.

Alison McMahon is the founder and CEO of Cannabis at Work. Her company connects people with jobs in the cannabis industry, and since 2015 has placed over 350 people in cannabis-related jobs across the country.

Employment Prospects for People Previously Criminalized for Pot Charges

One thing McMahon has mentioned regarding new job opportunities in the Canadian weed scene it the employment prospects for people who were previously criminalized for cannabis-related charges. Growers, she says, want people who have already worked in the cannabis industry and know what they’re doing.

According to Aurora’s Chief Corporate Officer, Cam Battley, “Aurora has made a point of hiring people with the greatest experience and passion for the plant, and that means specifically bringing on people from the dispensary world and the gray market.”

With an industry that’s creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs and expected to bring in over $20 billion in revenue, Canada seems to be on point regarding legal pot.