Cannabis facility eyeing spring start
Zenabis, the licensed producer of cannabis products, expects to start production in Stellarton as early as the spring, according to the company’s lead on the project, May Nazair.
“The heavy lifting is pretty much done,” said Nazair in a phone interview from the Zenabis office in British Columbia. “The facility is completely built out for the section that we’ve converted and we feel confident that we meet the Health Canada and cannabis regulations.”
Nazair says the company submitted its confirmation of readiness report to Health Canada in December and is expecting to hear back within the next two or three weeks.
If they get the go-ahead, then cannabis production at Acadia Avenue would have a green light.
“We do have quite a bit of experience within the regulatory framework,” said Nazair, referring to the company’s three existing locations in Delta and Langley B.C., and in Atholville, N.B. The news should be reassuring to those in the town of Stellarton who have been hoping for an infusion of jobs in the area. The company’s Atholville location began production in August 2017 and within a year it had 100 employees. By the following December they were at 150.
In early December The News reported a single job posting on the Zenabis website for a lead production manager at the facility, which is hoped to bring hundreds of well-paying jobs to the area. There are currently six jobs posted for the Stellarton location.
The purchasing and finance clerk and shipping and receiving clerk positions each carry a salary of $16 to $18 per hour. There are also positions for HR supervisor, lead grower, system administrator and recruiter.
“You’ll see more in the next few weeks,” said Nazair. “We will be going on a hiring spree very shortly.”
Currently, only one-third of the 255,000-square-foot facility has been converted for cannabis production, but Nazair says the company intends to continue developing.
“We will be continuously in a state of growth and development and conversion in the next two years with the intention of building out the Stellarton site to its maximum capacity.”