The marijuana industry's first unicorn is being added to an influential stock index

Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP/File

Marijuana being harvested in California.

Canopy Growth, a marijuana growing company based in Ontario, is being added to the S&P/TSX composite index, reports The Globe and Mail.

The company will be added to the index's healthcare sector, and will start trading on March 20. Shares were down 0.72% and were trading at 11.05 CAD 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, the Globe notes. Companies must have a certain market capitalization and liquidity to be included on 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 the $2 billion valuation in November, though it's 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, reports Business Insider's Melia Robinson.

However, though Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to enact federal legalization in 2017, the government isn't rushing the process, potentially dampening investor optimism.

And, 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.