With the envelope of the new Candre Cannabis facility completed, the company’s sights are now set on starting to grow two test crops in the coming months.
“We are on budget and schedule,” Jesse Beaudry, president and CEO, said last week.
“People can literally drive by the area and see the significant amount of progress that’s occurred,” said Beaudry, adding the warehouse building’s envelope was finished and that the administration portion of the structure was almost done as well.
Initial plans outlined a three-phase project, starting with the 43,335-square-foot building, followed by about a 100,000-square-foot Phase 2 with a final jump to roughly 500,000 square feet. Candre has now essentially committed to bypassing the second phase and intends to pursue the last phase with the largest footprint, he said.
“We’re committed to expansion,” he said, later adding, “We’ve locked up the land.”
Discussions have already been held with utility companies to ensure the infrastructure could support the size of the facility that’s planned. But getting the first phase commissioned remains the focus for now, he said.
“We still have to prove ourselves.”
Construction on the first phase got underway last summer following meetings with the public.
While interior work remains to be finished, the concrete floors are done and the company has begun ordering lighting and shelving to prepare to grow two test crops, said Beaudry.
“As we speak, a mechanical company is installing some of the big HVAC units that are there to support the growing,” he said, referring to a high tech heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
Local and regional contractors “have been, frankly, knocking it out of the park,” he added.
While the construction schedule is progressing very well, he said there have been some minor delays such as reinforcing the steel used to build the structure in light of a decision to proceed with interior equipment that was bigger than initially thought.
“The objective for us was to end the year with the envelope and ground concrete slabs done,” he said, adding that goal was met just before the new year.
The company also recognizes that Health Canada’s approval is required before moving forward with starting to grow commercial, medicinal grade cannabis. Candre is working on providing a package to the federal government’s regulatory body to obtain that approval, he said.
“We hope to be ready for that by March. We’re going as fast as we can,” he said.
“But we don’t want to compromise quality for speed…once we turn this on and start growing, we want it to work and work well.”
Meetings with master growers, quality control teams as well as IT specialists have been underway, he said, adding conversations have revolved mostly around cannabis rather than construction.
“We’re at the finish line, dialing in the details.”
However, individual growing rooms will be brought online sequentially, he said.
“We’re not going to be growing in every room on Day 1.”
The focus for the time being is to successfully complete the first two test crops to pass federal regulations, which also include ensuring the facility is fully secured with an array of protective measures such as surveillance cameras and fencing, he said.
Once the first two crops, which will be grown in separate rooms, pass the regulatory process, Candre will receive a licence allowing commercial sales, he said.
“That’s a very robust and sophisticated analysis done by a third party on the product.”
Once that hurdle has been cleared, he said the company will move ahead with additional grow rooms that will require additional staff.
“We have 13 people that are full-time at the company today.”
Seven are based in the office trailer at the Candre construction site in Sundre’s southwest industrial park, with four of those living in walking or biking distance, he said.
“That was our intent.”
He said employees who drive in from out of Sundre fuel up in town and are always glad to set foot in local restaurants as well as the grocery store for lunches.
“We are very imbedded in this community and will only become more so,” he said, adding Candre has already contributed numerous donations to local groups and organizations.
While 13 employees might seem small, that number will increase substantially once Candre ramps up its operations, he said, adding the number of growing rooms the company can bring online will depend largely on how many people can be hired.
“Frankly, it’s a lot of cannabis.”
The legalization of recreational cannabis last October had “zero” impact on the company’s plans, which remain to produce the highest quality grade medicinal cannabis that will also be available on the recreational market because of the new law, he said.
“If somebody wanted to buy medicinal cannabis for recreational use, they can,” he said, adding, “the plan from Day 1 has not changed…we brought in top-of-the-line equipment and support infrastructure to give us the best shot of growing the highest quality cannabis.”
As progress goes from plans on paper to a physical structure, people are increasingly expressing interest in touring the facility, he said.
“Everything’s brand new, there’s a real appetite to take a peek.”
While the company has been accommodating such requests, arranging tours will become more stringent once growing operations begin, he said.
Beaudry attributed his company’s success to date to the municipality, the community and the local business base.
“We’ve had tremendous support from Sundre…everybody that we’re running into in this town has been super responsive and helpful,” he said.
“I’ve heard about stories and companies in locations where it’s been a bit more difficult to operate, but this town’s been fantastic,” he said.
“Without the community behind us, we’re nothing.”
