Health Canada officials say, while they can’t be certain, they are reasonably “confident” Canada will have enough legal pot to meet demand once October 17 rolls around.

At a technical briefing on the new cannabis regulations Wednesday, officials said they can’t say with absolute certainty what the supply situation will look like on day one. But federal and provincial governments and the cannabis industry have been “making every effort” to ensure there will be product on shelves on opening day.

“We with our provincial and territorial partners, as the regulator, I think we’ve taken a number of decisive steps to be confident,” said a Health Canada official. “Having a well-functioning, supplied system when the Act and regulations come into force is critical.”

"Now what?"

That's what Torrance Aitken remembers thinking when he found out he'd won one of Saskatchewan's 51 coveted retail cannabis permits.

Four weeks later, there are still some things about the new legal pot industry that Aitken, a 34-year-old oil and gas well tester in Weyburn, Sask., can only guess at.

"I really don't have any idea how it will go," he said Wednesday. 

But Aitken didn't want to miss out on what he saw as a unique business opportunity.

The Saskatchewan government was only allowing two pot shops to operate in Weyburn, population 10,870.

Torrance Aitken, a Weyburn-area oil and gas well tester who won one of Weyburn's two pot permits, says he'll operate both businesses simultaneously. (Torrance Aitken)

Global demand for cannabis, both recreational and medicinal, continues to grow at healthy pace. According to a recent research report put out by Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics, the next ten years are set to explode with spending on legal cannabis worldwide hitting $57 billion by 2027.

While much of that growth is expected to come from the United States, there are several other countries opening up to cannabis, whether it be through consumption or production and export.

Vancouver city council has made changes to its bylaw to accommodate the sale of non-medical cannabis, ahead of federal legalization on Oct. 17.

City council created the "Cannabis Store" designation through a zoning and development bylaw amendment at a council meeting on Tuesday night. 

This will replace the existing "Medical Marijuana Related Use" (MMRU), so that pot shops also selling non-recreational marijuana can operate under city regulations.

Canopy Growth Corporation ("Canopy Growth" or the "Company") (TSX: WEED), (NYSE: CGC) is proud to announce that Mark Zekulin, President, Canopy Growth has been named a Recipient of Canada's Top 40 Under 40® for 2018.

Founded in 1995 by Caldwell, Canada's Top 40 Under 40® is an annual recognition of the exceptional achievements of 40 outstanding Canadians under the age of 40. Since its inception, Top 40 has recognized more than 680 outstanding Canadians and is the country's most coveted award for young business leaders.

When you ask Aphria CEO Vic Neufeld if he would hire people who have illegally worked with cannabis in the past, he'll give you a blunt answer.

"So, it helps."

Earlier this month, Neufeld announced the cannabis producer was raising $225 million for expansions, with $55 million set aside for "cannabis extraction."

And with legalization of recreational marijuana consumption fast approaching, Aphria will be hiring more workers with product knowledge — regardless of how that knowledge is acquired.

Employing the most qualified workers

The passing of Bill C-45 (Legalization of Cannabis) and Bill C-46 (Impaired Driving) highlights a critical safety risk in Canada – the expected increased use of cannabis in the workplace.

To guard against this, a coalition of employers and employer associations from across the country had urged the federal government to legislate alcohol and drug testing for safety-sensitive positions.

Although Ottawa has delayed legalizing recreational marijuana by a month, more than half of Canadians still think it’s all happening too fast, according to an exclusive poll for CityNews by Dart Insight.

Last week, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the Cannabis Act would go into effect on Oct. 17, a full 55 per cent of Canadians polled said they wanted the date pushed back by up to a year.

In fact, three provinces — including Quebec, where the desire for a delay is highest — asked for more time to figure out how to regulate the production, distribution and consumption of pot.

The penalties for distracted driving in British Columba have steadily increased; however, the punishment for impaired driving in Canada just got much more severe.

In conjunction with Bill C-45, otherwise known as the Cannabis Act, the new laws were created to deter people from getting behind the wheel after ingesting THC.

Canada will officially became the second country in the world to legalize marijuana as of October 17th, 2018. At that time, these new laws will come into effect.