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A licensed marijuana grower plans to build a massive greenhouse the size of 10 Canadian football fields in Alberta to produce a cash crop already in high demand among medical patients, with its market only expected to grow.

Vancouver-based Aurora Cannabis Inc. said the 600,000-square-foot facility will have the capacity to produce up to an estimated 70,000 kilograms of cannabis once it begins production, expected by the summer of 2018.

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It could become the country’s largest producer, though Ontario-based Aphria Inc. recently bought a swath of land, capable of holding one million square feet of production space, for $6.5 million.

Aurora, currently Alberta’s only licensed producerof medical marijuana, already operates a sprawling, 55,200-square-foot facility in Cremona, northwest of Calgary.

But Aurora estimates demand for medical pot alone is growing by 10 per cent each month. The market for licensed marijuana is only expected to blossom under Ottawa’s plans to legalize recreational use, with legislation expected next spring.