Olds College is officially partnering with cannabis production companies, including Sundial Growers and Olds Softgels, to train students to work in the industry.
Two Olds College officials -- Debbie Bailey, operations manager of continuing education, and programmer Zach Webster -- made that announcement during presentations on cannabis and potential jobs at Alberta Works in the Ralph Klein Centre April 25.
Bailey and Webster said the college plans to offer four online courses and a two-week practicum at Sundial and Olds Softgels.
The plan is to deliver two courses over a four-week period and another two courses over a four-week period, followed by the practicum. At the end, graduates receive a certificate.
The first courses are slated to begin this July.
The maximum intake is 20 students in order to ensure company staff can work with them appropriately. Others who apply after that will automatically go on a wait-list, in the order in which they apply.
Bailey said the cost is $700 per course plus GST, for a total of about $4,000 for all five segments.
Webster said the first two courses cover the basics of growing plants. He said the second two courses will "surround cannabis-specific growing and then the regulatory piece. So security, documentation, security clearance -- what's involved in terms of acquiring that."
Bailey and Webster stressed that if prospective students have good grounding in growing plants -- college horticulture grads for example -- they could choose to skip the first two courses and take the second two, plus the practicum.
Bailey said the practicum involves placement at Sundial and Olds Softgels because "they're very, very different facilities. So it was important to give the students that exposure."
It was announced that thanks to recent changes, people who have been unemployed for at least 30 days could possibly have costs for the course covered under the Canada Alberta job grant.
"We're really excited to move forward with some training opportunities. There aren't a lot of people out there who are cannabis production experts," Bailey said.
Bailey said the advantage of the certificate program is "our students will be trained for those growing, entry-level, faster to advance than someone who has no training.
"It's really exciting for people trying to find a new career. Coming in on the ground floor, this will give them that boost, because they will come in with some knowledge," she added.
If there's enough demand, more courses may be offered. Also, if there's a need, a level 2 course load may be offered as well, to provide students with even more knowledge.
"We are going to be growing -- pardon the pun -- the programming," Webster said.
Bailey said there's also a possibility the college will eventually offer courses in retailing cannabis products.
Several people approached her about that idea during the recent Cannabis Expo in Calgary. However, she said all the details surrounding the licensing, etc., for those stores would have to be determined first before that could happen.
Bailey said in order to set up the courses, college officials met with Sundial and other companies in -- or getting into -- the business and asked them what they needed.
"They had training needs right from ground level right up to the people who do extractions and the quality stuff," she said.
"We recognized that while we've been turning out horticulture graduates for a lot of years, none of them are training in cannabis production because it wasn't legal.
"It still will not be legal to produce cannabis on Olds College grounds and it's very unlikely that a college the size of Olds would be granted a grower licence. So then we started reaching out and looking at what are the opportunities? We can't teach them to grow cannabis without cannabis."
So they met with a committee featuring representatives of the college, the cannabis cultivation industry, the town and a medical clinic.
"It's really exciting to have the partnership signed and ready to move and we're really looking to other opportunities to work in this sector," Bailey said. "Our research people are working alongside with some of the organizations to do research as well."
Sundial Growers' talent management consultant Rita Rietze said the company is still willing to hire people and train them on the job. But taking the courses could be an advantage for prospective employees.
"If people want to get a leg-up and move ahead, and they have the opportunity and they're not working right now, it's a good opportunity to get that (knowledge) before they come," she said.
Sundial's human resources consultant Keith Rockley expressed enthusiasm for the program.
"We're very excited about that opportunity to be able to partner with them on an ongoing basis; definitely a win-win for both of us," he said. "Thank you Debbie, and thanks to Olds College for the opportunity to do that."
