The agriculture industry is an important contributor to the Canadian economy. It is formed of several subsectors including dairy, meat, poultry, and seed industries that employ people across Canada in various roles from growers to producers and distributors.
In this article, we look at the industry on the whole as well as key statistics for the different sectors within the agriculture industry. We also explore how much the different agricultural sectors export.
Agriculture Industry Statistics for Canadians
- In 2024, agriculture in Canada contributed 7% of the country’s GDP.
- The revenue for farmers from selling their agricultural products was approximately $92 billion in 2024.
- Canada exported agricultural products, fish and seafood, and processed foods to over 200 countries in 2025.
- Less than 30% of employees in agriculture are women.
- In 2023, there were 11.1 million cattle and calves and 13.8 million hogs on Canadian farms.
- There were 4,775 poultry and egg producers in Canada in 2023.
- The dairy industry is the second largest sector after red meat and livestock and was worth $8.23 billion in 2023.
- The Canadian seed industry’s direct and indirect impact on the economy is around $6 billion per year.
Agriculture in Canada Overview
There are around 189,900 farms in Canada covering 6.3% of Canada’s land area, which is 62.2 million hectares. In total, the agri-food industry, which includes not just primary agriculture, but also food and beverage processing, employs about 2.3 million people and provides one in nine jobs in Canada. In 2024, it generated 7% of Canada’s GDP, which is worth about $150 billion.
While agricultural work is performed across Canada, it is mainly concentrated in Quebec, Southern Ontario, and the Prairies. In the last fifty years, the average size of farms in Canada has doubled following technological advances and consolidation of farms.
Farm market receipts, which are representative of a farmer’s revenue from selling agricultural commodities, were worth a total of about $92.0 billion in 2024. It showed an annual growth across the range of commodities of about 5.1% with oilseed and grain showing the biggest increases (based on the latest available annual data). Two-thirds of all revenues were generated by the largest 10% of farms.
Exporting and the Domestic Market
The agriculture sector in Canada depends heavily on exporting and Canada is one of the largest exporters of food products in the world. Canada’s global exports of agriculture and agri-food products were worth about $92.2 billion in 2024, and agri-food, fish and seafood combined exports were nearly $100.3 billion in 2024. This figure includes not just raw agricultural materials, but also fish and seafood as well as processed foods. Products were exported to more than 200 countries.
The most important trading partner for Canada is the United States and over half of Canadian produce is exported to that neighbour in the south. Canada and the United States had bilateral agri-food and seafood trade reaching around $101.3 billion in 2024. We also receive over half of our imports from the United States. China remains a key market as well, and although the exact recent percentage growth varies by commodity, Canada has been working to expand exports to Asia including China. Exports to the rest of Asia and Europe have also increased in recent years thanks to more diversified exports.
While the success of the Canadian agriculture sector depends on exports, the domestic market is also crucial for its performance. Canadian households’ final consumption expenditures on food, beverage and accommodation services reached about $129.9 billion by the third quarter of 2025 (total for the latest available quarters). The food and beverages sector is the second biggest expenditure for Canadian households after accommodation.
Employment in the Agriculture Sector
According to Statista, 326,000 people were working in the primary agriculture industry in 2008. The number of workers has been falling ever since, other than in 2018 and 2019 when there were small increases. In 2025, there were about 231,800 people employed in agriculture in Canada, according to the most recent Labour Force Survey figures.
The majority of Canadians working in agriculture are men. Around 71% of all workers were men, and most are aged between 25 and 52, with 132,200 employees in the sector belonging to this group in the 2021 census. 108,900 were over 55 years old and 38,200 were aged between 15 and 24.
Red Meat and Livestock Industry in Canada
The red meat and livestock industry includes beef, veal, lamb, mutton, pork, goat, horse, and rabbit, as well as bison and venison. in 2023, the annual shipments of the red meat industry were worth $31.06 billion.
While the meat processing businesses in Canada manufacture a variety of meat products, the main ingredient, at approximately 70%, is pork. The table below shows the size of the three main sectors within the meat and livestock sector in 2023.
Type of livestock | Number of livestock | Number of farms | Revenue | Percentage of total agri-food revenue |
Cattle and calves | 11.1 million | 70,490 | $14.95 billion | 15.2% |
Hogs | 13.8 million | 7,000 | $5.85 billion | 5.9% |
Sheep and lambs | 828,300 | 8,487 | $222 million | 0.2% |
In addition to the above, there were 253,278 goats on 4,801 farms in Canada in 2023 producing meat, dairy, and fiber. Bison were kept on 989 farms in 2023 and their numbers totalled 149,539. 80% of Canada’s bison herding is in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Deer and elk are also raised in Canada on approximately 402 farms. Their numbers have fallen between the 2016 and 2023 Census of Agriculture. In 2016, there were 37,343 deer and elk raised on farms. In 2023, this number fell to 29,655.
Meat and Livestock Exporting
Canada’s beef and veal exports were worth $2.4 billion in 2023, having decreased by 2.4% from the previous year. The US was the biggest market for Canadian beef with a 74% share of the beef exports. This included 734,029 live cattle, which were exported to the US for feeding, breeding, and processing. The US was also the main market for hog and pork exports. 73% of Canadian processed pork products were exported to the US in 2019.
Poultry and Egg Industry
Canada’s poultry and egg products contributed 6.9% of farming revenue worth $6.8 billion in 2023. That year, there were a total of 4,775 poultry and egg producers in Canada. Out of these 2,853 were chicken producers, 513 were turkey producers, 243 were broiler hatching egg producers, and 1,243 were egg producers. 62% of the 1.4 billion kilograms of chicken produced in Canada in 2021 came from Quebec and Ontario.
Poultry and Egg Exporting
While chicken meat is the main export product within the poultry and egg industry, breeding stock, eggs for hatching, and live birds, including ducks, turkeys, and geese, are also exported from Canada.
Over 14.1 million chicks and poults were exported in 2023 worth $61.8 million. They were exported to 24 countries with the US being the largest market again, representing 71% of the exports in dollars.
In the same year, 3.3 million hatching eggs were exported, with a total worth of over $86 million and 64% going to the States. In addition, 3 million kilograms of processed eggs and 24.2 million shell eggs were exported worth $15 million and $3.6 million respectively.
Dairy Industry
The dairy industry is the second largest agricultural sector after red meat in Canada. In 2023, the industry was worth $8.56 billion and there were 1.382 million dairy cows and heifers across 9,443 dairy farms. During the same year, 95.9 million hl of regular milk was produced on Canadian milk farms. In addition, Canadian farms produced 1.49 million hl of organic milk.
After milk, cheese was the biggest product for dairy farms with 498.2 thousand tonnes of cheese produced in 2023. Yogurt came next with 382.0 thousand tonnes, followed by hard ice cream with 160.3 thousand litres, butter with 114.9 thousand tonnes, and skimmed milk powder with 82.1 thousand tonnes.
Dairy Industry Exporting
In 2024, Canada imported much more dairy products than it exported, with imports totalling about $1,661.7 million compared to exports of about $554.7 million. The main suppliers of dairy products imported into Canada remained the United States, New Zealand, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Ireland and others, with the United States by far the largest source. The main destinations for dairy exports were the United States, Egypt, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates and other markets.
Dairy products were mainly imported from the United States, Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The main destinations for dairy exports were, once again, the United States, as well as Australia, the Netherlands and France.
Seed Industry
Canada is a leading producer and processor of high-quality seeds and this has made it one of the major exporters of seeds. The combined direct and indirect impact on the Canadian economy is estimated to be over $6 billion per year, with seed sales in Canada and overseas being worth $3.5 billion. Because the fertile soil and different climate zones make it possible to grow a wide range of crops, there are over fifty seed varieties grown in Canada.
The seed sector includes many business types, such as seed growers, distributors, brokers, and exporters as well as those working in plant breeding and research. Businesses in the seed industry range from small farmers who grow the seeds to large multinational companies. In 2018, there were 3,487 seed growers in Canada.
Seed Industry Exporting
Canada exported seeds to over a hundred different countries in 2022-23, with the total value of seed exports reaching approximately $433 million. $403 million came from exports to the United States, $47 million to China, $31 million to Ireland, $19 million to Japan, and $13 million to Turkey.
Industry Forecast
The agriculture industry is expected to fall by 14% to $21.3 billion in 2024. This is still above the average from the years 2018 to 2022. This projection is based on the falling prices for major grains and slower cattle prices. However, this is still a good year for agriculture in general.
While inflation is expected to ease in 2024, continued supply-chain issues, the possibility of more droughts together with other severe weather events, and the ongoing war mean that the market will remain volatile.
Conclusion
The agriculture industry is expected to stabilise after 2025, with output forecast to remain below the peak levels seen in 2022 and 2023, but broadly in line with long-term averages through 2026 and beyond. Prices for major grains are expected to remain under pressure, while cattle prices are projected to improve modestly. Overall industry value is expected to remain below 2023 highs through 2026, but still above the average recorded between 2018 and 2022. This reflects lower commodity prices rather than a reduction in production volumes.
While inflation is expected to continue easing beyond 2025, continued supply-chain disruptions, the risk of further droughts and other extreme weather events, and ongoing geopolitical tensions mean that the market is expected to remain volatile.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the agriculture industry contribute to the Canadian economy?
In 2023, the agri-food industry contributed about $150 billion or 7% to the country’s GDP. The contribution from primary agriculture was about $36.3 billion or 1.8% of GDP.
How many people work in the agriculture industry in Canada?
There were about 2.3 million people working in the agri‑food sector in 2025. This includes the primary agriculture sector as well as the food and beverage production sector. In 2025, around 231,800 people were working in the primary agriculture sector, which covers farms, nurseries, and greenhouses.
What are the most common agricultural products in Canada?
The most common products include wheat, barley, and corn, livestock products such as pork, beef, and poultry, and milk and cheese from the dairy sector.