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While BMO’s involvement is a first, cannabis-related companies in Canada raised more than $2 billion last year without the help of the big banks, according to numbers from New York-based Viridian Capital Advisors. The deals were put together by relatively smaller shops that have been doing the majority of pot-related business, such as Canaccord Genuity Group Inc., which was part of the syndicate involved in the Canopy deal.

“Obviously this development brings increased competition within the capital markets, but it also supports continued expansion for the cannabis industry, which Canaccord Genuity has been supporting since its infancy,” said Pat Burke, president of Canadian capital markets for Canaccord, in a statement on Thursday.

Canaccord has been one of the busier financiers within the Canadian cannabis sector so far — on Thursday one of its latest deals, a bought-deal offering for marijuana company Nuuvera Inc., on which it is one of the lead underwriters, was upsized to $45-million.

“As the sector continues to evolve we are confident that increased participation from a broader range of participants will benefit the overall market,” Burke said.

Other Big Five banks could eventually work their way into the sector as well. Royal Bank of Canada told the Financial Post in a statement last week that it “currently does not provide banking services to companies engaged in the production and distribution of marijuana,” but that “we recognize that the legislative landscape is evolving and we are undergoing a review of our policies.”