Cam Battley believes that in the not-too-distant future, his company — one of Canada’s largest licensed producers — will be exporting a “significant chunk” of the cannabis it is growing domestically.

“We have a massive market over in Europe, even in Latin America,” says Battley, chief corporate officer at Aurora Cannabis Inc. “These countries are legalizing medicinal cannabis one by one but they’re not growing as much as us. They’re going to need product, and we’ve already got the ball rolling on exporting.”

Over the past three years, while Canadian licensed producers were raising millions in investor dollars from boutique investment firms on Bay Street, Scott Boyes embarked on a different route in the hunt for capital, one that led him to family offices and high net worth investors parked in the U.K.

“Bay Street — the Canaccords and Echelons and GMPs — were funding Canadian licensed producers that weren’t going to have any revenue or earnings for years. My U.K. partners said, ‘Look, we’ll get this funded, just come over to London,’” said Boyes, the chief executive of MPX International, which has cannabis cultivation and retail assets in Europe and South Africa and is listed on the CSE.

There was more than a little doubt as to whether Canopy Growth (TSX:WEED)(NYSE:CGC) would surprise investors with profitability ahead of its most recent quarterly results. Even so, when a report marred by a drop in sales and a weak gross margin result landed on news desks, the share price fell accordingly.

There's more good news for Ontario's legal weed business, as provincial officials report a huge decrease in the number of illicit dispensaries, writes Calvin Hughes.

Police in the city are now investigating only nine unlicensed cannabis stores, said Toronto Director of Investigation Services with Municipal Licensing and Standards Mike Sraga.

In June, California cannabis company Harborside Health ventured north and became the 66th US pot business to list its stock on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

The driving force behind the migration is simple: Marijuana sales are legal at the federal level in Canada, but remain illegal in the US. The federal ban means American cannabis businesses can’t list on US exchanges or raise capital from investors, as long as they sell in their home country.

Following the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada, we have noticed a significant increase in the number of companies that are developing branded cannabis products for the recreational market.

In 2019, the Canadian cannabis branding opportunity has become much more significant and this comes ahead of the expected legalization of cannabis infused products and cannabis concentrates later this year. The legalization of these cannabis derivative products would be a major catalyst for the companies that are levered to the Canadian market and we have been following how these companies are approaching this opportunity from a branding standpoint.

Being the only developed jurisdiction to legalize the recreational consumption of cannabis has seen Canada become the global leader in cultivation, processing, and distribution of marijuana. This has been a boon for companies such as Canopy Growth (TSX:WEED)(NYSE:CGC), Aurora Cannabis, and Cronos Group, which have seen their stocks soar by 578%, 393%, and 1,074%, respectively, over the last two years.

Much like California's Emerald Triangle, Canada's Kootenay (pronounced koot-nee) region in British Columbia (BC) is known for its small, off-the-grid pot growers, who are famous for their high quality, black market weed, writes Erin Hiatt.