Greenhouse veggies a bright spot in Canadian horticulture

The Canadian greenhouse vegetable area rose 22.5% from 2011 to 165.4 million square feet in 2016. Ontario continued to lead the provinces, accounting for more than two-thirds of all greenhouse vegetable area. From 2011 to 2016, Ontario saw almost no change in the number of operations in the province, but a 29.8% increase in the area dedicated to greenhouse vegetables. Over this period, Ontario added 25.7 million square feet—more than the total area of greenhouse vegetable production in every other province combined except British Columbia.

The number of farms reporting field vegetables rose 10.3% from 2011 to 9,994 in 2016. However, most of the new farms reporting vegetables were small. Total field vegetable area in Canada increased 1.0% to 270,294. Despite a 16.9% decrease in sweet corn area since 2011, sweet corn remained the largest vegetable crop area in 2016.

Fruits, berries, and nuts acreage rose 6.7% from 2011, mainly due to blueberries and cranberries. Blueberry area continued to expand in Quebec and Atlantic Canada (principally areas of managed lowbush blueberries) and in British Columbia (where highbush blueberries dominate). Nationally, blueberry area has consistently increased over the past several censuses and now stands at 196,026 acres.

The increase in blueberry area was largely driven by growing international demand. Canada exported 94.8 million kilograms of frozen blueberries in 2016, up 33.7% from 2011. Meanwhile, exports of fresh blueberries rose 84.4% to 37.1 million kilograms. The United States remains Canada's top destination for both fresh and frozen blueberries. Total blueberry exports to the United States increased 86.0% from 2011 and the United States accounted for 71.0% of total blueberry exports in 2016, up from 55.3% in 2011 (Statistics Canada. 2017. Special tabulation, based on World Trade Atlas Database, accessed April 13, 2017).

Area of selected fruits and berries, Canada, 2011 and 2016

Cranberry area increased from 15,191 acres in 2011 to 18,134 acres in 2016. Exports of fresh cranberries also increased, rising 77.6% from 2011 to 63.5 million kilograms in 2016 (Statistics Canada. 2017. Special tabulation, based on World Trade Atlas Database, accessed April 13, 2017). Both blueberries and cranberries are amenable to mechanized harvesting, allowing operators to increase the scale of their operation with a minimal increase in the number of employees.

In contrast to blueberries and cranberries, the area of strawberries and raspberries declined as the commodities faced disease outbreaks as well as labour and market challenges. Raspberry area fell 23.7% from 2011 to 5,651 acres in 2016, while strawberry area decreased 8.4% to 10,155 acres.

Apple orchard area continued to decline, with the largest decreases in Nova Scotia and Quebec. Overall, the total acres dedicated to apple production fell 3.2% from 2011 to 43,631 acres in 2016. While area of production declined, the area is used more intensively. For example, the yield of apples in Canada increased from 7.2 tons per acre in 1996 to 10.0 tons per acre in 2016 (CANSIM table 001-0009 accessed April 13, 2017).

Source: Statistics Canada