Starting next fall, Niagara College will be the first in Canada to offer a course on the production of marijuana.

“We are a preemptive college and we are trying to respond to a clear labour demand.” Al Unwin, Environmental and Horticultural studies Dean.

The new program will prepare students to work in the licensed production of cannabis and was developed with the help of licensed marijuana producers, who were consistent in their message that there was a real need for highly skilled well trained individuals.

The one-year graduate certificate program will teach students about the crop but also the legal requirements. The college’s program will follow the strict government regulations for growing cannabis and the plants won’t be grown at the college greenhouse. They will be harvested at a separate and highly secure growing facility.

There will 25 spots in the program and it’s open to students who already have a post graduate diploma or degree.

There are about 60 licensed growers in Canada, half of them in Ontario, and many close to Niagara College. Students in the cannabis program will have the opportunity to work at these facilities during the program, and the plants that are grown at the college will be managed by the licensed growers who already have a network in place.