With 10 days left until Ontarians will be allowed to purchase cannabis at one of 25 retail stores in the province, many of the license holders are struggling to get their shops ready to open on time.

The winners of the cannabis retail license lottery in Ontario have had just over two months to get their stores ready by the April 1 deadline.

Felicia Snyder works with Tokyo Smoke, a cannabis company that has licensed its brand to one of the five lottery winners in Toronto. Crews are working around the clock converting an old HMV building near Yonge Street and Dundas Avenue into a two-story cannabis store.

The Manitoba government is opening up the retail cannabis market in seven rural communities.

The province will license non-medicinal cannabis stores in Flin Flon, Niverville, Swan River, Virden, Altona, Lac du Bonnet and the rural municipality of Russell Binscarth, CBC News has learned.

The retailers will be chosen randomly from a list of nearly 100 pre-qualified applicants who responded to the province's second call for pot shop proposals last summer. The expansion aims to bring recreational cannabis sales to areas underserved by the initial distribution rollout, following the legalization of marijuana last October.

One aspect of the provincial budget is always the projected revenue from taxes and this year one of those is the tax from legal cannabis sales.

But the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union says the revenue projection seems low.

“We think the government has grossly missed the mark when it comes to the sale of marijuana in this province,” President of SGEU Bob Bymoen told CTV News following the budget’s release Wednesday.

The provincial budget shows roughly $5 million as the projected revenue this year from legal cannabis sales.

“The $5 million isn’t going to be enough to even offset the training and education, enforcement and dealing with the societal issues that stem from making marijuana legal,” Bymoen said.

Since legalized marijuana began to be sold throughout British Columbia last October, B.C. municipalities are still waiting to hear how much cannabis related taxation money they'll be able to use. 

Having legal cannabis means some cities have seen extra costs related to the recreational addition, and are wondering if they'll have funds to pay for it. 

The delay in determining a solid plan for revenue sharing between the provincial and local governments has been slow for a number of reasons. 

The Ministry of the Attorney General admits significant funds from marijuana aren't expected right away, given the associated start-up costs with legalization, and only a few stores in operation. 

From skin-care lotions to bottled water, cannabis companies are rolling out a growing array of consumer products infused with a chemical found in marijuana called cannabidiol, or CBD.

The compound doesn't have the ingredient that gives marijuana users a high. Instead, CBD product makers say they promote general health and well-being.

The U.S. retail market for CBD is projected to swell from an estimated US$2 billion last year to US$16 billion by 2025, according to a report by equity analysts at Cowen.

A key factor in that forecast is the growing variety of CBD products that companies are bringing to market, such as drinks, capsules, gummies, topical lotions and tinctures, which are liquid extracts.

The cannabis industry has grown at a tremendous pace in the recent years due to the continuing legalization efforts seen around the world. The rapid growth of the industry has now caught the attention of Wall Street's financial institutions as well, who have begun to cover the marketplace. Investment banks such as Piper Jaffray, RBC Capitals, and Cowen have backed the industry by covering public companies that are dabbling with cannabis. For example, RBC Capitals analyst Nik Modi believes that cannabis is the next up and coming global industry. Modi expects the legal U.S. cannabis market to grow at a projected CAGR of 17% and reach as much as USD 47 Billion within the next decade.

Overdoses due to prescription drugs is the top leading cause of accidental deaths in the U.S. Over the years, prescription drugs, especially opioids, have been used, overused and abused. Unfortunately, it has moved from a crisis to a full-blown nationwide epidemic.

The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index (TSX:HMMJ) is an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) designed to provide investors with diversified exposure to North American publicly-listed cannabis companies.

Harvest One Cannabis Inc (CVE:HVT) (OTCMKTS:HRVOF) announced Thursday that through its wholly-owned subsidiary and cultivation arm United Greeneries Ltd, it had completed its first shipment of medical cannabis to Shoppers Drug Mart.

Consolidation continues in the Canadian marijuana sector as key players position themselves to capitalize on long-term opportunities in the country and overseas.

Smaller cannabis companies that don’t have the scale or a sustainable competitive advantage are seeking partners that share their expansion objectives, while the big marijuana stocks are searching for strategic assets and capacity growth in an attempt to keep up with medical and recreational cannabis demand.