Kapuskasing Marijuana plant deal signed

Up and Growing in Kapuskasing From CTV Northern Ontario's Lydia Chubak: A world-class medical marijuana facility will be constructed in the town of Kapuskasing.

The mayor of Kapuskasing signed some important paperwork on December 28th.

Al Spacek and a company that produces medicinal marijuana have agreed to build a pot-growing facility in the community. It’s a partnership that’s been four years in the making and those involved say it's a direct result of community support.

CannAssist officials say this is the company’s first production facility, and finding host communities is not easy. They say Kapuskasing proved to be ahead of the curve.

"It’s their partnership, their willingness to make us successful and make them successful. You couldn't find a more progressive community than what we found up here in Kapuskasing. ” said Mark Pearlman, the Chief Operating Officer of CannAssist.

Pearlman says the 250-thousand square foot, state of the art, eco-friendly building will be constructed on the town's airport property. The mayor says many economic benefits will come out of this project including sixty full-time jobs to start.

"It goes a long way to diversifying our economy which has traditionally been forestry and mining. So we're very pleased with this project and I think it's very noteworthy that it's going to be beneficial to the whole region." said Spacek.

People who live in the town are enthusiastic about the new project.

"There are a lot of businesses that would do awesome up in this kind of community where the taxes are low, the property costs are low and costs for their employees are low. People need to see that and with a company like CannAssist coming here, that's great promotion for our communities." said Shannon Pawlikowski.

"I think this is probably one of the most significant events for the town since the employee buyout of Tembec." said Brad Robinson.

CannAssist plans to begin construction next fall. It doesn’t have a licence to produce yet, but it expects that to happen next January, and when it does, company officials believe they won't be able to keep up with the demand.

"Absolutely, I've seen it through my nursing career as well as my own personal experience that this plant can really benefit people and offer them symptom relief." said CannAssist CEO, Jan Britton.

Kapuskasing will receive five per cent equity from CannAssist in exchange for the serviced land.