Canopy Growth to lay off 85 workers, cease some global operations

Canopy Growth Corp. is laying off workers, closing a handful of facilities and ceasing operations in several countries as it tries to optimize its production and better balance supply and demand.

The Smiths Falls, Ont.-based cannabis company says it will be laying off 85 full-time workers and will shut down its indoor facility in Yorkton, Sask. to align its production in Canada with market conditions.

Canopy will cease its farming operations in Springfield, N.Y. because of an abundance of hemp produced in the 2019 growing season, but the company will continue using that supply to create hemp-derived CBD products for the U.S. market.

Outside North America, Canopy will end work at its cultivation facility in Colombia and has entered into an agreement to cease operations in South Africa and Lesotho.

Canopy says it will transfer ownership of all of its African operations to a local business it did not name in its press release and said that it expects to close the transaction in the coming weeks.

In March, Canopy laid off 500 employees, closed some of its greenhouses and took writedowns of between $700 and $800 million as it dealt with profitability challenges.

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