The Canadian pork industry is made up of 7,020 hog farms with farm cash receipts of over $4 billion. While production takes place in every province, over 75% of Canada’s pig farming takes place in the three provinces of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba. Quebec is also the largest province for pork processing (34.1% of processing) followed by Ontario (21.5%) and Manitoba (20.2%).
Exports account for well over two-thirds of Canada’s pork production. In 2015, we exported almost 1.2 million tonnes of pork valued at $3.4 billion to almost 100 countries. Canada is currently the 3rd largest pork exporter in the world behind the European Union and the United States.
By value, Canada’s largest export markets in 2015 were the U.S. (44% of total pork exports), Japan (28%), China (8%), and Mexico (6%). Exports have been growing over the past decade, increasing more than fivefold since the early 1990s.