Alberta
With over 4 million residents, Alberta is the fastest-growing province in Canada. Between 2011 and 2016, its population grew by 11.6 percent. Alberta is also Canada’s second largest agricultural producer, earning nearly one quarter of Canada’s farm cash receipts.
Although wheat is the province’s top crop, followed by barley and canola, Alberta is also a major potato producer. In 2016, the province ranked third in Canadian potato production, behind Prince Edward Island and Manitoba. Alberta was responsible for 19 percent of the country’s total spud production.
Immensity Fuels Abundance
Stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic to the Arctic, Canada spans more than 3.8 million square miles of land and water. This immensity encompasses ten provinces, three territories, and an array of growing regions.
Despite its northern latitude and relatively short growing season, Canada’s commercial growers harvest a wealth of fresh fruits and vegetables—from apples, pears, cherries, and blueberries to
carrots, potatoes, onions, and lettuce.According to Statistics Canada, fruit and vegetables continue to see growth with combined cultivated area expanding by 2.3 percent in 2016. National farm gate value for vegetables in 2016 skyrocketed to $1.2 billion, up 7.6 percent from the prior year. Carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, dry onions, sweet corn, broccoli, and peppers accounted for more than half of the total value of field-grown vegetables. The value of Canadian fruit reached the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2016, an increase of 7.1 percent. Blueberries accounted for one-quarter of total national fruit value.
Potatoes are by far the largest vegetable crop in Canada, accounting for nearly 30 percent of all vegetable receipts. A large portion is shipped to destinations across the globe, though North American trading partners—the United States and Mexico—corral most. Off the continent, Japan is the next top receiver of spuds. In the 2015-16 crop year, exports of Canadian potatoes and related products reached an estimated $1.60 billion.
Home to 300 fruit and vegetable farms, the province also grows a variety of produce including onions, carrots, cabbage, sweet corn, beets, peas, pumpkins, rhubarb, Saskatoon berries, strawberries, and raspberries.
“There are great in-season products grown in Alberta—like corn, beans, and root crops—but the season is really short,” explains Brian Lewis, produce director for Federated Co-Operatives Limited in Calgary. “There’s also a lot of product grown under glass here year-round.”
Indeed, there are approximately 230 greenhouses in the province covering more than 135 hectares. The province’s greenhouse vegetable farm gate value reached $54.6 million in 2016.
