Canadians are buying more organic food than ever, but Canadian farms are growing less of it. Organic sales have reached $11.88 billion, up 24% since 2024, while certified organic acreage fell 16.1% from 2024 to 2.20 million acres, according to 2026 data from the Canada Organic Trade Association. The gap was the main concern at Organic Summit 2026 and Parliament Day in Ottawa on 2 and 3 November.
Organic food and drink account for $8.44 billion of the sales, and about two-thirds of Canadians buy organic products every week. A large share of that demand is supplied by imports, including certified organic products from the United States, which sector leaders see as room for Canadian-grown crops and ingredients and for more processing at home. The country has about 5,711 certified organic producers and 1,739 processors.
Industry leaders asked Ottawa for more help for farmers converting to organic production under Canada's next agricultural policy framework. Conversion takes production knowledge, markets and infrastructure as well as demand, Farms.com notes, before it pays for a farm.
At meetings with MPs, senators and officials on 3 November, the sector also asked for organic products to have a bigger place in Canada's trade and export strategy, including stronger Canadian organic branding abroad, and for a role in federal food-security programmes. Canada's organic equivalency arrangements with major trading partners were presented as an advantage as the country diversifies its farm exports.
Competitors are spending more. The Canadian Organic Alliance's Organic Action Plan says US spending on organic is about eight times higher per acre per year than Canada's and European Union spending about 200 times higher. The plan calls for more research, farmer training and conversion support, and investment in processing, regional supply chains and market development.
For farmers weighing a switch, the point of the summit was that demand is not the problem: the question is how much of it Canadian farms and processors, rather than imports, can supply.
Photo: Kumar Appaiah / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Source: Farms.com
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