Aurora Cannabis discontinues production in Quebec

Aurora Cannabis, one of Canada's cannabis leaders, has announced the closure of its two cannabis production sites in Quebec, the Aurora Vie plant near Montreal airport, and Aurora Eau in Lachute. It will nevertheless retain part of the facilities there «to enable the manufacture of higher-margin products», such as its CBD and/or THC softgel capsules.

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This announcement is the latest in a complicated start to the year. Despite a 20% rebound in cannabis sales during confinement across Canada, the big players are struggling to make their many production sites profitable, and are making massive cuts to their workforce and previous investments.

Last week, Aurora announced it was closing 5 plants, including the 2 in Quebec, and laying off 700 employees.

«This is not simply a cost-cutting exercise. We have undertaken a strategic realignment of our operations to protect Aurora's position as a leader in the world's major cannabinoid markets,» said interim president Michael Singer in the statement.

«As part of this transition, our company also intends to immediately accelerate cannabis production at our Nordic plant in Europe from which we believe we can adequately serve the European market with EU-GMP certification,» said Aurora.

In February, Aurora announced the departure of its president and founder Terry Booth, 500 job cuts and a $1 billion restructuring in asset depreciation. Aurora's co-founder is gone last week and has just announced also left the company's Board of Directors.

In May, Aurora had announced its entry into the U.S. CBD market by acquiring the Reliva company.