Join The gloBal le aders in Food and Beverage innovaTion

Ontario is full of agricultural advantages that position them above the competition. As well, the province is the choice of many food industry giants for a multitude of reasons. In favour of the flourishing industry are a rich agricultural base, a large consumer base, an educated workforce, adequate infrastructure, competitive costs, and a cluster of research and innovation opportunities in the sector.1 Companies based in Ontario are given the opportunity of access to end-to-end supply chain solutions that include processing, packaging, specialized storage, and transportation. More food production resources available in Ontario include ingredient manufacturers, specialty importers, and other value-added processors—a few of which are essential services like analytical laboratories, specialty packaging, storage, and transportation businesses. 2 In addition to this, the province has over 11 million acres in total farm area 3 that accommodates 230 different agricultural commodities4 on over 48,000 farms.5 The weather in Ontario is much milder than in a lot of other locations. Having a moderate, four-season climate opens the crop possibilities to plenty of crops being grown, even if Ontario is not their native habitat. Due to this, as well as Ontario’s multicultural diversity, foods and dishes from more than 200 distinct ethnic backgrounds are able to be produced in the province for consumption in the world’s markets. 6

The province contributes a large portion to total farms and total revenue in Canada. In the 2021 Census of Agriculture, it is stated that Ontario made up the largest national share of farms and farm operators, making it the second largest contributor to Canada’s farm operating revenues. About 25% of farms in Canada are located in Ontario, which makes up 7.7% of the total farm area in the country. In terms of farm operators, there are around 67,000 who call Ontario their home, and about 31% of those operators are female, which is higher than in previous years. Ontario also has the largest farms in the production of poultry and eggs, sheep and goats, other animal production, vegetables and melons, and greenhouses, nurseries, and floriculture.7

In order to remain on top, Ontario has continued to adapt to certain economic and environmental changes. In the past, this has been through the shift in focus from livestock to crops. Recently, technological advances have been added to the industry and have completely changed the way that agriculture companies do their business. New digitization projects that have emerged include AIbacked facial recognition for cows, camera and AI-powered herbicide distribution systems, and autonomous trackers. 8 Research to continue innovation on these projects has received a total of $3 billion in investments from the federal, provincial, and territorial governments.9

1 https://foodandbeverageontario.ca/who-we-are/

2 https://www.investontario.ca/ food-and-beverage-manufacturing#worlds-table

3 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/96-325-x/2021001/article/00006eng.htm

4 https://www.investontario.ca/food-and-beverage-manufacturing#intro

5 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/96-325-x/2021001/article/00006eng.htm

6 https://www.investontario.ca/ food-and-beverage-manufacturing#worlds-table

7 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/96-325-x/2021001/article/00006eng.htm

8 https://www.investcanada.ca/industries/agribusiness

9 https://www.canada.ca/en/agriculture-agri-food/news/2022/04/government-of-canada-invests-in-digitization-of-farming-to-strengthen-sustainability-of-canadas-agriculture-sector.html