The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Aurora Cannabis is laying off about 700 employees, almost one-third of its staff, and closing five grow-operations in the company's second major attempt in recent months to rein in costs. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that as part of the restructuring, the Edmonton-based marijuana grower said it expects to take about $200-million in impairment charges after writing down assets and inventory. The announcement comes less than five months after the company laid off 500 staff and took more than $1-billion in writedowns and impairment charges. At the peak in 2019, Aurora had about 3,000 employees. The expansion was based on optimistic expectations about the legal cannabis market, which have not materialized in the short term. Legal sales are increasing from month to month, and more legal retail stores are opening in key markets such as Ontario. However, a recent report from the government-owned Ontario Cannabis Store estimated that just 19 per cent of sales in the province were being made in the legal market at the end of 2019. The latest restructuring will see Aurora close two facilities in Quebec, and one each in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan.