A 100,000-square-foot medical cannabis facility at the former Players Paradise sports facility in Stoney Creek should be up and running by the end of April, with the first harvest ready by late summer.

The 565 Seaman St. site is zoned commercial-industrial, which allows cannabis production. The building is receiving a $9-million retrofit.

Derek Bravo, operations manager for Green Relief Inc., said his firm is the only medical cannabis company in Canada licensed by Health Canada to produce and sell cannabis using an "aquaponics" model.

Once the Stoney Creek site is at full capacity, Green Relief, which currently operates out of a 30,000-square-foot facility in rural Flamborough, plans to increase its annual output from 2,800 kilograms to a total of about 17,800 kilograms.

Aquaponics combines aquaculture (raising fish) with hydroponics (the soilless cultivation of plants). The closed-loop system uses less water than conventional agriculture, while producing 10 times the crop yield per hectare, according to Green Relief. Once the system's fish reach market size, Green Relief donates the protein source to Second Harvest, a food rescue service.

Although the actual method of growing cannabis using aquaponics isn't more effective at controlling odours than conventional agriculture, Bravo said the Seaman Street building shouldn't cause any odour concerns for the area.

"We have designed our building in a way that uses sophisticated HVAC equipment with industrial carbon filtration. This effectively eliminates all odour outside the facility," Bravo said in an email.

The Green Relief facility, which is licensed by Health Canada, will be retrofitted with security upgrades to deter unauthorized entry, said Bravo. A fence will be installed around the site perimeter. The building itself will be equipped with a door access control, an upgraded motion detection system, and an improved closed-circuit security camera system.

Green Relief is also planning to hire about 100 employees. Bravo said the company hasn't outlined a hard set of specific qualifications for job applicants.

"We have a staff with a wide range of educational backgrounds," Bravo noted. "We feel that this allows us to develop a team with a broad range of skills and knowledge, where each member can bring something new to the table. However, we are always on the lookout for people with a wide array of skills and applicable educational backgrounds."

Past cannabis experience would be beneficial, as well as professional greenhouse or horticultural experience.

"We have hired from many post-secondary programs from many schools in the area … One program in particular that we will be paying a great deal of attention to for potential futures hires is the Niagara (College) cannabis cultivation program," said Bravo.

In the coming months, Green Relief plans to host an on-site community event to field questions from the public about the Stoney Creek facility, and to introduce itself to the neighbourhood. The to-be-announced event will be coupled with a job fair.