College cannabis program growing
State-of-the-art greenhouse technology set to be installed
Five shipping containers that will house a state-of-the-art commercial cannabis lab and production facility were moved into place at Niagara College’s Niagara-on-the-Lake campus Friday morning.
Vivian Kinnaird, the college’s dean of business, hospitality and environment, said the containers will be welded together over the next few days and then work will begin inside them.
Kinnaird said state-of-the-art greenhouse technology will be installed to meet the needs of the college’s new commercial cannabis production program - the first of its kind in Canada – which starts this fall.
The container facility, split into different sections, will give students the best possible learning experience and prepare them for work in the commercial cannabis sector in the future, she said.
Twenty-four students will enter the program in the fall, followed by another 24 in January and 24 in May. More than 300 applications for the program had been received by this month.
Kinnaird said students accepted into the graduate certificate program will come with some sort of diploma, advanced diploma or university degree in horticulture, greenhouse technology, agricultural sciences, plant sciences, biology or a related discipline.
“It does require some experience.” Students will learn plant nutrition, lighting programs and integrated pest management to support optimal crop growth and quality, and how to assess crop health and quality among other things.
It’s very important for us to understand what the industry needs. VIVIAN KINNAIRD Niagara college’s dean of business, hospitality and environment
The curriculum, she said, was developed in partnership with licensed cannabis producers and to meet the growing demand for qualified, knowledgeable growers, operation managers and producers and more.
“It’s very important for us to understand what the industry needs and we’ll continue to work it and modify the curriculum as needed.”
At a panel discussion on the cannabis industry and the college’s new program held in January, those in attendance heard that Niagara has some 22 million square feet of greenhouse space, about 1.87 million square feet of which is used by six licensed producers of cannabis.
That square footage could double in 2019, it was said during the panel discussion.
Kinnaird said the program will be growing cannabis on site and will comply with all of the Health Canada regulations.
Some of those regulations include security fencing around the container facility and video surveillance. The college said no cannabis will be consumed or sold as part of the program.