The budding marijuana industry in Canada is set to explode, according to a number of key industry players banking on a wave of increased consumption from groups that have otherwise steered clear of the green commodity. With only a few large cannabis producers jockeying for position in a bid to control the largest piece of what may turn out to be a very big pie, the Canadian marijuana market appears to be shaping up as a quasi-horse race, with a podium of winners and a number of companies potentially on the outside looking in.

To avoid betting on the wrong horse (or horses), I’ve pared down the list of companies that I believe will outperform their peers to two firms: Aphria Inc. (TSX:APH) and Aurora Cannabis Inc.  (TSX:ACB).

While the correlation among most marijuana producers is quite high (stocks tend to move in a similar direction over time), it is also true that companies have begun to diverge as investors stake their claims to the select few companies they believe will outperform in the long run. I suggest investors interested in considering Aphria or Aurora use a long-short strategy to isolate these firms from competitors that may not fare so well in the long term. [Read more at The Motley Fool Canada]