Taking action in support of our vital natural resource sector

Every Christmas Canadians from coast-to-coast go shopping to buy all sorts of things for their holiday celebrations. From presents to decorations to eggnog and everything in between, families who engage in festivities typically fork out more bucks than they would any other month of the year.

In fact, a recent poll found that the average Canadian adult plans to spend nearly $800 on the holidays in 2021. That is a hefty chunk of change, acting as a positive boon to Canada’s economy while simultaneously warming the hearts of loved ones. For many, a big turkey dinner is a quintessential component of family tradition, if not the crowning event of the entire experience – so the extra spending is worth it.

This year, if you and your family are planning for such a feast, we’d encourage you to take a moment to appreciate the Canadian farmers who have helped make it all possible.

While a significant portion of the holiday spending we do is on gifts that are largely imported from other countries, much of the meal that we enjoy is grown and produced right here in Canada.

Let’s take a moment to dig a little deeper and find out just where your annual turkey dinner is from:

Turkey:

• The vast majority of Canada’s turkey is domestically produced. As of 2020, about 98% of the turkey we consumed was local.
• Interestingly, on Thanksgiving and Christmas last year, Canadians purchased an estimated 4 million whole turkeys, making up about 77 per cent of all whole turkey sales for the year.
• The majority of Canada’s registered turkey growers are in Quebec and Ontario, but there are registered producers in every single province.

Potatoes:

• Canada is the fourth largest exporter of potatoes and associated products in the world.
• We are exporting over 4x as many potatoes and potato products as we are importing, meaning a large majority of Canadian potato products are local.

Corn:

• Unlike many other agricultural sectors, Canada is actually a net importer of corn. This is largely due to our friendly trade relationship with the USA, which is the world’s largest producer of corn by a large margin.

Buns and dinner rolls:

• The wheat used to make flour for our bread products is Canada’s largest crop by acreage.
• Canada is the sixth largest producer of wheat in the world.
• We import essentially zero wheat, and we only import a small fraction of the total flour consumed in Canada each year, meaning almost all Canadian bread products are made with domestic wheat.

Cranberries:

• Most Canadian cranberries come from Quebec and British Columbia. Quebec alone produces 25 per cent of the world’s cranberries.

Wine:

• About 30 per cent of all wine purchased in Canada is locally produced, and nearly 40,000 Canadians work in the industry.
• We encourage you to choose a domestically produced bottle of wine for your guests this Christmas!

It’s clear that from farm to plate, Canadian farmers and food processors can make everything you need for your turkey dinner this year. However, when you visit your local grocery store, it’s likely that you’ll have the choice between Canadian food and products imported from other countries.

This Christmas, we strongly encourage everyone to choose Canadian food! Let’s support our domestic farmers and economy by choosing Canadian!

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