And it is nothing to do with the chocolate factory — the first Hershey’s outside Pennsylvania — that was once on the site.
Although the sector has so far failed to live up to its pre-legalisation hype and staff are being laid off — including 75 at Canopy in March — the company’s arrival “has been a significant part of the transformation of our community”, says Shawn Pankow, the town’s mayor.
But while legalisation sparked a “green rush” on the Toronto Stock Exchange, profits in the sector have proven elusive — drawing a comparison with the dotcom boom and bust.
Canopy saw its stock price slide within a year of legalisation, prompting warehouse closures and lay-offs.
The main problem was a lack of stores, particularly in populous Ontario, where a licensing lottery saw the tiny town of Innisfil awarded three shops on a single street while other towns missed out.
About 50 locations a month are now opening in Ontario, and prices have fallen 20 per cent since legalisation because of the fierce competition among hundreds of licensed producers.
Last year, the legal market overtook illicit sales and accounts for 56 per cent of sector turnover, Kreindler says.
“The producers are doing a good job at putting some really high quality product on the market, at attractive prices, because they’ve had to,” says Grover.
Cost remains an issue, analysts say, and with little brand loyalty, producers are consolidating.
“Everyone focused on funding and it really let the quality of the product fall short,” says Kayla Mann, chief financial officer of Habitat Craft, which uses aquaponics — a process involving nutrient rich water — to farm organic salmon and high-grade cannabis.
Habitat Craft recently raised C$1m to expand and hopes to become profitable this year but is relying on fish to subsidise the cannabis side.
Gains were short-lived, though: Tilray’s Nasdaq-listed shares peaked above $60 in February before falling below $20, while Canopy Growth’s topped C$60 but then slipped one-third.
In Smiths Falls, residential construction is at a five-decade high and a new type of tourist is expected once the pandemic ends.