Food Processing Skills Canada (FPSC), is pleased to present this report to the food and beverage processing industry, government decision makers and other stakeholders. This report stands as a resource for all. It details who the industry is, where it could go, and what’s standing in its way. Producing this report in these challenging times has been a moving target. The world has changed and it’s hard to know how history will look back on this time. A tectonic shift in every sector, and in everyday life, has occurred virtually simultaneously across the entire globe. This report outlines what we observe to be the immediate economic and financial consequences of the COVID-19 global pandemic. However, according to our experts, the medium and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 on Canadian businesses cannot be fully estimated.

Food Processing Skills Canada (FPSC), is pleased to present this report to the food and beverage processing industry, government decision makers and other stakeholders. This report stands as a resource for all. It details who the industry is, where it could go, and what’s standing in its way. Producing this report in these challenging times has been a moving target. The world has changed and it’s hard to know how history will look back on this time. A tectonic shift in every sector, and in everyday life, has occurred virtually simultaneously across the entire globe. This report outlines what we observe to be the immediate economic and financial consequences of the COVID-19 global pandemic. However, according to our experts, the medium and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 on Canadian businesses cannot be fully estimated.

A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity.an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.”

Winston Churchill

In 2017, there was an enthusiastic call from the Advisory Council on Economic Growth “to unleash the sector’s full potential”. The Agri-Food Table set even more ambitious growth targets calling for Canadian agricultural, agri-food and seafood exports to reach $85 billion by 2025, a 32% increase from 2017 levels.
The recent international trade agreements – Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Canadian-United StatesMexico Agreement – present obvious opportunity outside our borders, although there is significant opportunities for growth in Canada’s domestic market as well. The Advisory Council noted Canada processes only half of its own agricultural output. Domestic market growth should be made easier by The Canadian Free Trade Agreement which was put into place in the summer of 2017, and focuses on eliminating barriers that restrict the movements of goods and services within Canada. These trade mechanisms clear a path to capture greater shares of domestic and international markets.

Canada will welcome more than 1.2 million newcomers between 2021 and 2023.”

If the sector is to achieve these ambitious targets, it would place Canada in an enviable position of truly “feeding the world”. The domestic and international strategic advantage of doing so is obvious. Abroad, we would strengthen our place in the world, develop trade relations and participate with our allies in lifting other nations out of food poverty. At home, we would strengthen and build the industry by creating wealth and jobs, and Canada would grow by welcoming more newcomers. In fact, the Government of Canada announced late last year, that to make up for the shortfall in 2020 due to Covid-19, the country would welcome more than 1.2 million newcomers between 2021 and 2023, in addition to more than 400,000 new permanent residents every year from 2021 to 2023.
Still many ask, “is there really that much opportunity?”. The answer is, “never more so than now”. The global demand for food is expected to rise by 70 % between 2009 and 2050, fueled by a growing population and an expanding middle class that will consume considerably more protein than is the case today. Many of these middle class consumers will want to know their food has been produced in a safe and environmentally sustainable way and will favour products from countries such as Canada where environmental, labour, and food safety and quality standards are globally-recognized.

The food and beverage processing industry with its more than 7,600 businesses directly employs over 280,000 people accounting for almost 1 in 5 of all manufacturing jobs in Canada. The COVID-19 global pandemic has also clearly shown the industry’s great strategic importance. The industry is made up of 11 sub-sectors, with Meat Product Processing being the largest and Cannabis Product Manufacturing being the newest. Ontario, Quebec, and BC are home to three-quarters of the industry’s businesses. The industry is dominated by small or medium-sized businesses, with fully 91% of businesses employing less than 100 people.

Food Processing Skills Canada (FPSC), is pleased to present this report to the food and beverage processing industry, government decision makers and other stakeholders. This report stands as a resource for all. It details who the industry is, where it could go, and what’s standing in its way. Producing this report in these challenging times has been a moving target. The world has changed and it’s hard to know how history will look back on this time. A tectonic shift in every sector, and in everyday life, has occurred virtually simultaneously across the entire globe. This report outlines what we observe to be the immediate economic and financial consequences of the COVID-19 global pandemic. However, according to our experts, the medium and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 on Canadian businesses cannot be fully estimated.