Allyson Beauregard
Allyson Beauregard
LITCHFIELD – At the beginning of April, Livewell Foods Canada Inc., the company responsible for the proposed cannabis growing operation at Litchfield’s former Smurfit Stone property, partnered with Canopy Growth Corporation and Canopy Rivers Corporation, based out of Smith Falls. According to the companies, the partnership was executed to “accelerate the development and commercialization of Livewell’s two large scale cannabis projects located in Ottawa and Pontiac, which collectively represent over 1,500,000 sq. ft. of future cannabis
production and processing infrastructure.”
According to Jordan Sinclair, Canopy Growth Director of Communications, in short, Canopy Growth, which owns most of Canopy Rivers, offers a large sales channel for marijuana, while Canopy Rivers seeks out investment opportunities and provides capital and licensing expertise. “Everyone brings something to the table,” he said, noting Canopy Rivers offers the financing large banks won’t, due to the
stigma surrounding the product rather than its potential.
Together, the corporations will provide Livewell with guidance and support, both financially and operationally, in getting its facilities licensed and operational, as well as high-quality genetics for initial cultivation. In exchange, both receive equity in Livewell.
“Rivers continues to look for synergistic and mutually beneficial opportunities to
support emerging industry players with strategic advisory services and financial support. We will work collaboratively with Canopy Growth to
accelerate LiveWell’s speed to market,” said Sean McNulty, co-founder of Canopy Rivers, in a press release.
“Partnering with Canopy provides LiveWell with the best in class partners required to execute our ambitious growth plans in an efficient and expedited manner. Having access to their operational excellence, unique technology, global distribution infrastructure, and an abundance of other industry insights, we can significantly de-risk the execution and operation at both facilities, drastically reduce our time to market, and improve the quality of product we deliver,” said LiveWell’s CEO Seann Poli.
Situated along the Ottawa River, the 500 acre Pontiac site is expected to host a Global Innovation Centre complete with a Cannabis and Hemp Research & Processing facility, which, combined with the 1 million square feet of hybrid greenhouses, will represent 1,540,000 square feet of greenhouse capacity; construction of the first 100,000 square feet has already begun.
