Fruit and vegetable production, 2014

Released: 2015-02-04

The growth in the area dedicated to fruit cultivation slowed in 2014, while the area dedicated to vegetable cultivation continued to decline. Since 2001, Canada has lost 34 255 hectares of vegetable area while the fruit area has risen by 20 908 hectares.

On an annual basis, the area dedicated to vegetable cultivation decreased 3.7% to 97 300 hectares in 2014. Tomatoes contributed to the decline in vegetable area with a 32.5% decrease. However, other commodities increased: cucumbers and gherkins (+16.6%), green onions and shallots (+12.4%) and Chinese cabbage (+9.8%).

Chart 1 
Fruit and vegetable cultivated area

Canadian fruit and vegetable farmers sold $1.8 billion of products in 2014, up 2.2% from a year earlier. Although vegetable area decreased, the sale of vegetables rose 3.6% to $914 million. Higher yields were reported for different commodities such as dry onions, rutabagas and turnips, pumpkins, lettuce, shallots and green onions as well as radishes (including Asian radishes). In 2014, Ontario accounted for 43.7% of total vegetable sales in Canada while Quebec accounted for 37.3%.

Fruit sales grew 0.7% to $849 million. Blueberry sales rose 23.9% to $246 million, while apples sales decreased 5.1% to $188 million. Grape sales fell 33.0% to $116 million and cranberries were down 5.1% to $89.6 million. Ontario producers reported lower yields for sour cherries, grapes, peaches and pears. Blueberry producers reached production highs in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia. Strong cranberry yields were reported in Quebec. In 2014, British Columbia accounted for 39.0% of Canadian fruits sales, Ontario 24.3% and Quebec 21.5%.

Chart 2 
Fruit and vegetable sales

Contact information

For more information, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca).

To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Rita Athwal (613-951-5022; rita.athwal@statcan.gc.ca), Agriculture Division.