First medical, then recreational: Montreal marijuana plant opens

For now, little clusters of green leaves make up the "mother plants" inside the Aurora medical cannabis facility that just opened in Pointe-Claire.

They look more like small house plants than the "source of all the genetic material" the company's executive vice-president Cam Battleysays they'll become.

But, Battleyexplained on a media tour Friday, by the time those mother plants and their clones grow to full capacity, the facility dubbed "Aurora Vie" will be harvestingabout 4,000 kilograms ofcannabis per year.

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It expects to employ between 40 and 50 people.

Aurora, which has two facilities in Alberta, announced last springit would break into the Quebec market with the 40,000-square-foot space as soon as it gotapproval from Health Canada.

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Revamped facility

That was granted just days ago, but in the meantime, the company began setting up theproduction by upgrading the nondescript brick building onHymusBoulevard.

It installedrefrigeration panels on the walls and epoxy resin floors that can both be easily sanitized, and security card systems at every doorway.

But there was something it forgot, conceded Allan Cleiren, Aurora's chief operating officer, whenquestioned by a Radio-Canada reporter.

The documents and flyers the French- and English-speaking journalists were greeted with were only in English. One of them was a nondisclosure agreement, containing complex language.

The two employees sitting at the table under a white tent in the parking lot were at a loss to explain why.

The public relations nightmare was eventually smoothed over. The company's governmental affairs liaison, Andrea Paine, spoke French and so did Battley, who grew up in Beaconsfield, in a speech that followed.

Battleyalso announced Aurora would be setting up a second facility in Lachute.

Producing with an eye on legalization

The company is confident it will be able to get the licensing to produce consumer cannabis, when it's legalized inJuly 2018.

"We've demonstrated that we're able to follow rigorous regulation under Health Canada and, in essence, I think that we've established the trust that will allow us to go forward," Battleysaid.

Aurora has already set its sights beyond Canada's borders, though.

It has begun to sell medical marijuana to German distributors, partnered with an Australian producer and acquired an Europeandistributor, Battleysaid.

He said Aurora is aiming to produce a wide range of cannabis products including oils, for vaporizing, and in pill form.

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"You will find that the future does not include a lot of smoking of cannabis," Battleysaid. "That's becoming pass."

As for the lack of French to start off with, Battleysays he's aware that's still very much in.

"This is a French-speaking province, we are hiring locally as fast as we can and we are hoping you can give us a little bit of time," he said.

"But in the future, this is going to look like any other Quebec business and it's going to sound like any other Quebec business."

Only 2 medical cannabis production facilities in Quebec

There are only two medical cannabis production facilities in the province, including the Pointe-Claire setup. The other one is run by Hydropothecaryin Gatineau.

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As of July, Health Canada had issued 29 licenses for production in Ontario.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. is a publicly-traded company. Its share price has shot up in the last few weeks and stands at $7.24.