Executive Summary

Canada has a major economic opportunity in food and beverage manufacturing. Meeting the National Food Security Strategy (NFSS) growth target would add $25.3 billion in cumulative real GDP above the baseline by 2035. Unlocking the larger opportunity could add a potential $75.1 billion by 2035.

A key industry for Canada

Canada’s food and beverage manufacturing industry is already the country’s largest manufacturing sector, generating approximately:

• $188 billion in annual revenues
• $35.1 billion in GDP
• More than 318,000 direct jobs

With over 9,000 establishments across the country, the industry connects Canadian agriculture to consumers, foodservice and global markets, while purchasing approximately half of Canada’s agricultural output.

But productivity has stalled

Labour productivity in food manufacturing grew by 1.4% annually between 2011 and 2018 but was essentially flat between 2019 and 2025. At the same time, manufacturers faced rising costs, trade uncertainty and increasing pressure to invest, automate and improve productivity.

The opportunity is real

The federal government’s National Food Security Strategy has established a target of 2.75% annual food-processing GDP growth between 2027 and 2035. Achieving this — and capturing the larger opportunity — will require more than individual programs. It will depend on the broader conditions that allow companies to invest, modernize, scale and compete.

Five priorities to unlock the opportunity

Turning economic potential into investment and growth requires more than funding alone. Canada should treat food and beverage manufacturing as strategic industrial capacity and adopt a coordinated approach built around five priorities.

• Invest: Leverage private capital to support automation, expansion and new manufacturing capacity.
• Modernize: Recognize automation, robotics, digitalization and incremental technology adoption as critical forms of innovation in food and beverage manufacturing, and ensure federal programs support these investments.
• Regulate smarter: Protect public and food-safety objectives while reducing unnecessary duplication, delay and non-value-added regulatory burden.
• Build the workforce: Align immigration, training and workforce policy with the industry’s long-term labour and skills requirements.
• Compete: Address the structural costs that affect the ability of Canadian manufacturers to compete at home and abroad.

Canada’s largest manufacturing industry should be treated like one.

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