An Alberta council recently approved medical cannabis development at a June 13th meeting, specifically Sundial Growers Inc’s development permit to build a federally-licensed medical cannabis production facility. But there are still some hurdles to overcome, as Sundial is still required to get approval from Health Canada before they can cultivate medical cannabis.
It is planned that the development will begin by spring of next year. “The medical marketplace is growing exponentially.. All I can just summarize is, thank goodness for Olds for the Benefit of Alberta. We need the jobs and we need the economic growth so it’s a serious matter,” says Sundial founder and director Stan Swiatek.
It is estimated that the project would be developed in at least four stages and that the entire project would lead to the creation of at least 22 jobs for each phase of the journey. The council that recently approved the project,voted 6-1 in favor of allowing the permit. And it was Coun. Mary
Anne Overwater that had initially made the move to approve of Sundial’s application. “It’s great they want to come here… We need more businesses to come here [to the central Alberta town of Olds]. Just having residential development is not enough,” says Overwater.
Swiatek has previously said that he sees the economic growth to be imperative for him and they are so convinced of the potential profitability that they have even considered moving to open a second production facility. He says that the history of the town is what initially attracted him to it and he has been pleased with the willingness of officials to learn about medical cannabis and to be open in considering his proposal. The entire project, with its four phases, is estimated to cost more than $8 million.