Ontario college first to offer post-secondary pot credentials
A southern Ontario college said it will be the first to offer a postsecondary credential in the production of commercial cannabis.
Niagara College said the graduate certificate program will launch in the fall of 2018 and aims to prepare students to work in the licensed production of cannabis, which includes marijuana, hemp fibre and hemp seed.
The school said the one-year post-graduate program was approved this summer by the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development. It will be open to those with a diploma or degree in agribusiness, agricultural science, environmental science/resource studies, horticulture or natural sciences, or an acceptable combination of education and experience.
College president Dan Patterson said the program is meant to address a growing labour market need in the wake of legislative changes in Canada and abroad.
The school said the production of cannabis is highly regulated and the program, which will be taught at its Niagara-on-the-Lake campus, will conform to all regulations and requirements.
A community college in New Brunswick announced last year it would offer a course in horticulture tailored to equip students with the skills to work in a the growing marijuana industry.
School officials at the Frenchlanguage College communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick have said the course was designed in collaboration with industry leaders.
The federal government has pledged to legalize recreational marijuana by next summer.
The new law would allow adults 18 and older to possess up to 30 grams of dried cannabis or its equivalent in public, share up to 30 grams of dried marijuana with other adults and buy cannabis or cannabis oil from a provincially regulated retailer. The government has also said it intends to bring other products, including pot-infused edibles, into the legalized sphere once federal regulations for production and sale are developed and brought into force.
Provinces, territories and municipalities would be able to tailor rules for their own jurisdictions, enforcing them through mechanisms such as ticketing.
• Meanwhile, a Quebec medical marijuana producer said Tuesday its processed products have been certified as kosher, just in time for one of the High Holidays on the Jewish calendar.
The Hydropothecary Corp. said the certification by Rabbi Levy Teitlebaum comes just in time for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, celebrated from Wednesday night to Friday night.
It said the certification covers its ready-to-consume marijuana powder product line, cannabis peppermint oil and milled products and includes an audit of cleaning protocols, kosher compliance review and on-site inspections.
The Ottawa rabbi said kosher certification is relied upon by vegans, vegetarians and people who follow Jewish dietary laws.