September is Organic Month in Canada, and the sector is using it to make a point: what was once a niche is now a multi-billion-dollar market. Industry reporting puts Canadian organic sales at roughly C$11.88 billion in 2025, up from about C$6.38 billion in 2019, and ranks Canada as the fifth-largest organic market in the world.

The growth is on the farm as well as at the till. Statistics Canada and industry data count thousands of certified organic operations producing grains, oilseeds, livestock, dairy, fruit, vegetables, maple products and processed food, in every province but concentrated on the Prairies and in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.

Statistics Canada put the farm-gate value of certified organic fruit and vegetables at C$171.8 million in 2024, with organic vegetable output up 4.8 percent in the year. Organic vegetables covered 5.5 percent of Canada's field vegetable acreage and organic fruit 8.2 percent of the fruit area. British Columbia alone holds nearly 30 percent of the organic seed market.

Retailers have moved organic lines out of specialty shops and into mainstream grocery aisles as consumers pay for environmental stewardship, animal welfare and sustainability claims. A recent analysis for the sector estimates that expanding organic acreage could add C$1.73 billion in net farm income over the next decade, with higher net returns per acre under some systems and gains in soil health, biodiversity and emissions.

The caveat from industry leaders is that demand is growing faster than domestic supply in some categories, leaving more of the shelf to imports. They are asking for investment in research, transition support and market development so that Canadian growers, rather than foreign ones, capture the growth.

Photo: Hajhouse / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Source: Farms.com