Canada’s agri-food sector is one of the world’s most innovative and globally integrated.

Canada is a global agri-food powerhouse, offering global investors a wealth of opportunities in everything from grains and oilseed production and processing, to functional foods and fine niche products. The sector’s many advantages include abundant, high-quality and competitively priced agricultural raw materials, a large pool of skilled labour and ready access to global markets.

• The food and beverage processing industry is the largest manufacturing industry in Canada; it accounts for 17 percent of the total value of manufacturing shipments and two percent of national GDP. Each year, Canada exports $21 billion worth of processed food and beverage to a total of 180 countries.
• Between 2003 and 2011, nearly 100 foreign companies established greenfield projects in Canada’s food and beverage sector.
• Canadian researchers continue to make breakthroughs in developing and manufacturing healthy ingredients for natural health products and dietary supplements. These include omega-3 fatty acids from marine sources, unsaturated fatty acids from canola oil, soy protein, plant sterols and stanols from vegetable oils, as well as probiotics and fermented beverages.
• With nearly 700 producers, Canada’s natural-health products and dietary-supplements sector generates annual revenues of more than $3.5 billion. This success stems from Canada’s stringent quality and safety standards, innovative research infrastructure, abundant natural resources and an environment of collaborative teamwork between public and private partners.