Sector overview

Produce Grown by Ontario's Farmers

Over 125 different fruit and vegetable crops are grown on 245,000 acres of land in Ontario with an estimated annual farm gate value of more than $2.6 billion.

The main crops grown include:

• Fruit: apples, grapes, peaches, apricots, blueberries, melons, cherries, nectarines, pears, plums, raspberries, strawberries and more.
• Vegetables: potatoes, sweet corn, peas, field tomatoes, asparagus, beans, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsnips, peppers, pumpkins, squash, radishes, rhubarb, rutabagas, spinach, and zucchini. The most common are potatoes, sweet corn, peas and field tomatoes.
• Greenhouse: tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.

 

Economic Contribution

• The Ontario fruit and vegetable sector generates more than $4.2 billion in economic activity annually, including over $2.6 billion of farmgate sales, over one third of Canada’s total production.
• Ontario fruit and vegetable farmers export $1.5 billion annually; almost half of this is from the greenhouse vegetable sector.
• The sector employs over 30,000 people directly on-farm, and every on-farm job generates approximately 2.2 jobs downstream (an additional 66,000 indirect jobs).
• The sector generates approximately $600 million in tax revenues for all three levels of government.
• With over $5 billion of fruit and vegetable imports into Ontario, there is significant opportunity for the sector to expand to meet domestic consumption needs.