In 2023, potatoes were Canada’s fifth-largest major crop (after canola, wheat, soybeans, and maize), generating around USD 2 billion in farm cash receipts, according to the most current “Potato Market Information Review.”

Exports of potatoes and potato-related products increased by 8% between 2022 and 2023, reaching over USD3.6bn in 2023–2024. Furthermore, potatoes make up 29% of all vegetable receipts and 17% of all horticulture receipts, making them the largest vegetable crop farmed in Canada.

Additionally, potatoes contribute significantly to provincial agricultural sectors; in 2023, they accounted for more than 55% of Prince Edward Island’s (PEI) total farm cash receipts and 22% of New Brunswick’s total farm cash receipts. Though they only make up 4% and 2% of the total farm cash receipts for Manitoba and Alberta, respectively, both provinces have substantial potato industries with total farm cash revenues that are higher than those of PEI and New Brunswick.

“In Canada, potatoes are generally planted in the spring and harvested throughout the late summer and fall. Potatoes are produced for three uses: seed, table market, and processing (frying, chipping, dehydration, and others) and the relative importance of each sector differs greatly by province. Each category is comprised of unique end-uses and markets,” according to the report.

Canada’s potato farmers produced about 5.8m metric tons of potatoes in 2023. The production of potatoes in Canada is genuinely national, as it is dispersed from coast to coast. Area-wise, production is split as follows: 35% in Atlantic Canada, 21% in Central Canada, and 44% in British Columbia and the Prairie Provinces. By volume, Alberta accounted for 24% of production, followed by Manitoba (23%), Prince Edward Island (20%), New Brunswick (12%), Quebec (10%), and Ontario (7%).

Approximately 68% of the total production in 2023 was destined for the processing sector, 21% for the fresh/table sector, and 11% for the seed sector. Most processing potatoes are used to produce French fries, chips, and other processed potato products. The main French fry processing provinces, by volume, are Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and PEI, while Ontario has the largest potato chip sector. Processing plants are usually located close to where production occurs. These processors offer contracts to potato growers for production of the quantities and varieties required, in advance of the growing season. Most growers have state-of-the-art storage and are responsible for keeping good-quality potatoes as required by the retailers and processors.

Approximately 150 seed potato varieties are registered in Canada for commercial production. Alberta (27%), Prince Edward Island (21%), Manitoba (16%), Quebec (12%), and New Brunswick (10%) were the largest seed potato-producing provinces in 2023.

Canada is a net exporter of potato and potato products and the U.S. is by far the most important market for Canadian potatoes. In 2023-2024, Canada exported USD50m of seed potatoes, USD493m of fresh potatoes, USD2.7bn worth of French fries, and USD424m of other processed potato exports to all countries.