The marijuana industry's first unicorn is being added to an influential stock index (TSE:, WEED)
Blair Gable/Reuters
Canopy Growth, a marijuana-growing company based in Ontario, is being added to the S&P/TSX composite index, The Globe and Mail reports.
The company will be added to the index's healthcare sector and start trading on March 20. Shares were down 0.72%, at 11.05 Canadian dollars, on Tuesday afternoon.
Large institutional investors use the S&P/TSX composite index, so it may lead to more demand for the stock and a boost for Canada's marijuana industry, according to The Globe and Mail. Companies must have a certain market capitalization and liquidity to be included in the index.
Canopy is the largest legal grower of medical marijuana in the world, and has been hailed as the marijuana industry's first unicorn — it blew past a $2 billion valuation in November, though its total valuation has slipped since then.
Canopy's growth is predicated on the company's belief that more countries will legalize marijuana at the federal level, creating new markets for export, Business Insider's Melia Robinson reported.
However, though Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to enact federal legalization in 2017, the government isn't rushing the process, potentially dampening investor optimism.
And US President Donald Trump's administration, led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has vowed to crack down on the recreational marijuana industry in the US, spooking investors.