The pioneering Nanaimo cannabis giant Tilray has finally pulled out of the city, taking with it roughly 170 jobs. Last week, it found a conditional buyer for its flagship property in the city which was listed for more than $18 million. Canada’s first legal medical cannabis grower opened its Vancouver Island facilities to great fanfare in April 2014, a year-and-a-half before the election of the federal Liberal government on a promise to legalize cannabis. Its departure from Nanaimo is a loss for the city. The Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce’s president said Tilray was a major player, contributing $25 million to the local economy in its first year alone. “There was nothing like it in Canada,” Kim Smythe said. “We were the first. It was quite a coup at the time.” The company continues to operate elsewhere in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Australia and Latin America. Tilray says its merger with Ontario giant Aphria nearly a year ago makes it the “world’s largest cannabis company” thanks to combined revenues of $685 million. Tilray did not respond to interview requests, but previously said it is consolidating its operations to find “efficiencies.”
Mmp News Author, Medical Marijuana Program Connection, 03/20/2022 23:07:00