A New Brunswick, Canada economic policy advisor has high hopes for the marijuana sector, saying it could create thousands of jobs, CBC News reports.
“Year over year we’re expecting hundreds next year and hundreds more the year after that [sic]. So over a five-year term, we are looking at this being thousands of jobs,” Susan Holt, economic policy advisor for New Brunswick, said in the report.
Holt said some of those jobs will require education, and that the provincial government is going to assess the current education system offerings available to make sure the education for the sector is available.
According to a June Statistics Canada report, the unemployment rate in New Brunswick is 10.3 percent.
The government recently announced their approval for a $4 million loan for Zenabis, a medical marijuana company planning on building a facility in Athoville. Athoville is located in the northern part of the province. Holt pointed to the agreement as a sign of things to come.
“We anticipate a need for labor, the jobs Zenabis will create and what other producers will create, may challenge the talent pipeline,” she said.
Kevin Coft, CEO of International Herbs Medicinal Marijuana Ltd., which operates Zenabis, said he expects the facility will create more than 200 jobs and contribute $15 million annually to the province’s gross domestic product.