Canada could add as much as $5.4 billion to its economy and create roughly 34,000 full-time-equivalent jobs if it processed at home just 10 per cent of the raw crops it now exports, according to an analysis by the consultancy EY released by Protein Industries Canada.

The modelling puts the gain in food manufacturing output at $7.9 billion alongside the rise in GDP, with the jobs spread across processing, manufacturing, logistics and supply chains, and up to $1.1 billion in additional government revenue.

The starting point is a large farm economy that ships much of its harvest out unprocessed. Canada's agriculture and food sector contributed $149.2 billion to GDP in 2024 and supported about 2.3 million jobs, and the country is a major grower of wheat, canola and corn, a significant share of which is exported before any value is added.

EY also looked at the world market for processed ingredients, which it projects will grow from US$436 billion in 2025 to US$801.9 billion by 2040. Canada, it estimates, could account for about US$42.1 billion of that.

"Canada is already an agricultural powerhouse," said Tyler Groeneveld, chief executive of Protein Industries Canada. "The next opportunity is to capture more of the value those crops create here at home." He argued that the Prairies' farm strengths, combined with capital and manufacturing expertise from the rest of the country, could build something of national importance.

The findings land as Ottawa leans harder on food-processing capacity through its National Food Security Strategy, which encourages more Canadian-grown crops to be processed domestically to cut reliance on foreign suppliers. Protein Industries Canada says the study backs its Make It Here campaign for investment, infrastructure, modernised regulation, better-coordinated programmes and stronger market access.

For grain and oilseed growers, the argument is that more crushing and ingredient plants at home would mean more buyers close to the farm gate, rather than a harvest that earns most of its value after it leaves the country.

Source: Farms.com