Canada’s marijuana companies are becoming known for developing best practices for a nascent industry that, if they do it right, could leave them well-positioned to dominate around the globe

At first blush, the Canopy Growth Corp. operation in Smiths Falls, Ont., doesn’t look especially high tech. The building is an old industrial pile that used to be a Hershey chocolate factory and it was until recently at risk of being demolished.

But today, past the tastefully decorated lobby and the biosecurity barriers, the factory’s rooms are full of bright green marijuana plants under even brighter white lights, with little irrigation hoses snaking in between the pots.