Tweed Farms closing Niagara-on-the-Lake greenhouse facility

Canopy Growth has announced the closure of its Niagara-on-the-Lake Tweed Farms greenhouse.

NOTL's Lord Mayor Betty Disero said she received the call last Thursday night before the announcement was made publicly.

She said they told her 30 workers would be laid off, and 60 would be relocated to Kincardine and Smiths Falls locations.

We wish them well, but it's unfortunate," she said. 30 jobs is 30 jobs, and they were well-paying jobs, which is helpful to those people wanting to live in Niagara-on-the-Lake."

The facility has more than one million square feet of greenhouse space under glass.

Tweed Farms and its owners Canopy Growth did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story.

Disero said Canopy Growth will be looking to put the facility up for sale in the new year as a greenhouse.

I asked if it had to be decommissioned because it was cannabis - does it have to be torn down or whatever? - but they said no. Anyone, whether they're planting vegetables or flowers, can move in and take over," she said.

Niagara College said its commercial cannabis production program will be unaffected by the closure of the facility.

In an email to Niagara this Week, the college said it's sorry to learn about Tweed Farm's closure, but so far there isn't a significant impact on the program or on students.

While the facility had provided student placements for the program in the past, they didn't have any students there this term.

The two organizations announced a memorandum of understanding in April 2018, ahead of the college program starting in September of that same year.

Tweed Farms, owned by Canopy Growth Corporation, first opened its doors in NOTL in 2014. At the time, it was the world's largest legal cannabis greenhouse.