Durham College (DC) and Emblem Corp. (Emblem), on behalf of its health and education subsidiary GrowWise Health Limited (GrowWise), are pleased to announce their signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to begin integrating cannabis-related learning into many of DC’s post-secondary programs and building professional development courses. The MOU is the first-ever agreement in the province of Ontario between a cannabis education service and a post-secondary institution.

“This is an incredibly exciting opportunity, both for GrowWise and for Durham College,” says Adam Saperia, president of GrowWise Health. “GrowWise is already a leader when it comes to education for patients. As interest in the cannabis industry grows, so too does the need for education, and GrowWise is ideally positioned to meet these professional educational demands for healthcare professionals and the wider market.”

The agreement builds on the college’s highly successful Medical Cannabis Fundamentals for Business Professionals course which was introduced in 2017 by DC’s School of Continuing Education in collaboration with GrowWise.

Today’s announcement paves the way for more cannabis-focused courses to be offered. It will also allow for DC to begin offering its students work placements with cannabis industry partners and opens the door for eventual applied research opportunities within the industry.

“As an institution we are continually striving to develop and deliver leading-edge learning solutions,” says DC president Don Lovisa. “As a proven developer of education and training for organizations of all types, today’s agreement will allow us to design and develop co-branded courses, both online and in-class, that will be offered directly to healthcare professionals, patients and other stakeholders in Canada’s emerging cannabis space.”

In addition to providing subject matter expertise as well as funding, GrowWise and Emblem will work collaboratively with DC to identify applied research and experiential learning opportunities both in the medical and recreational cannabis industries.