OneLeaf Cannabis Corp. building multi-million dollar facility in RM of Sherwood

Construction of large grow-op in little Lumby, B.C., set to begin

OneLeaf Cannabis Corporation, a company based in Saskatchewan, has unveiled its plans to build a multi-million dollar, 44,000-square-foot production plant in the RM of Sherwood and the City of Regina's Joint Planning Area.

The RM has conditionally approved the build and construction has already begun.

According to the site plan, the building will be in the Sherwood Industrial Park.

The facility plans to produce 4,100 kilograms of pot per year and expand that amount by 16,000 kilograms a year once its two other planned facilities are complete.

In order to keep the building secure from outside environmental interference, CEO Mike Templeton said the company had to take a few extra steps.

"For bio-security issues — in order to keep these rooms secure from outside interference — you basically have to build a building inside of a building, is how we've done it."

The company says the facility should be finished in the summer.

OneLeaf says it is starting as a medical marijuana facility, but it hopes to expand its business into international exporting and recreational marijuana production in the future. It expects to create more than 100 jobs.

Licensing process

The facility is in the business of marijuana production, so its approval must come from Health Canada. In order to operate, a facility must show it has the necessary equipment, infrastructure and capital before final approval, which is why the facility has begun construction and sought RM approval before being given the go-ahead from Health Canada.

"You can get to a certain stage, for instance, with Health Canada, but you can't get past it without that building inspection. So you really do have to put that investment in order to get to the finish line," Templeton said.