College launches marijuana growing course

Talk about higher education - a Canadian college will launch a marijuana cultivation course, as the country prepares to legalise recreational use of the drug.

A Canadian college plans to teach marijuana cultivation so students can be trained to work at companies that produce the drug.

The French-language College Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick would launch the course in 2017, executive director Michel Doucet said.

"This is not a mainstream program," Doucet said.

"We're looking at training qualified employees to meet the needs of industry, versus training students at large."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned last year on a promise to legalise recreational marijuana and the government has said it would introduce legislation early next year.

Medical marijuana is already legal across Canada, and companies in that relatively small sector have been eyeing the larger recreational market with expansion in mind.

In August, the government of New Brunswick, where the college has five campuses, said it invested in a medical marijuana company that will create up to 208 jobs in the region.