Smiths Falls based company Canopy Growth has just signed a marijuana supply deal with the Newfoundland and Labrador government.

The publicly traded company is the largest of its kind in the country, with eight licences across Canada. It will supply up to 8,000 kilograms a year for two years, with a one-year extension option.

The deal is aimed at ensuring a safe supply of pot, but does not bar purchases from other providers that could be licensed over time.

"We will also use this as a framework for other agreements related to cannabis supply and production," Industry Minister Christopher Mitchelmore told a news conference Friday. 

The co-founder of Tweed Inc and founder of Canopy Growth Bruce Linton believes this deal has potential in other provinces as well. 

"When we start creating product and brand it, I think there will be something interesting there and around the world," he said. 

Linton said the company will use specific types of marijuana strains to create a uniquely Atlantic brand of marijuana that will appeal to Maritimers and people elsewhere. 

"The advantage for Atlantic Canada is that we are taking these genetics and we will have specialized genetics we can take down there," he said. 

Canopy Growth will build a brand new facility in Newfoundland and Labrador that is estimated to cost more than $40 million dollars. The facility will be there for a minimum of 20 years and produce about $12,000 kg of marijuana every year. Until that facility opens in 2019, Canopy Growth will ship up to $8,000 kg of weed to the province once it becomes legal on July 1st, 2018. 

"It's grown quite a lot and the value of the company has gone up and we have raised about $600 million dollars and spent a lot of that in communities were buildings were empty and the people were unemployed," he said. 

Canopy Growth will also run and operate four storefronts in the province. The new plan is expected to create 150 to 160 jobs in that province.