Agriculture and
Agri-Food Canada released its annual Overview of Canadian Agriculture and
Agri-Food System Monday, boasting that the sector generated $108.1 billion
during 2014.
That’s 6.6 per
cent of Canadian Gross National Product (GNP).
The sector provided one in eight jobs in
Canada, employing more than 2.3 million people.
Exports increased by 12 per cent from 2013
levels to $51.5 billion in 2014, increasing Canada’s share of the total value
of world agriculture and agri-food exports to 3.6 per cent.
Canada
remained the world’s fifth-largest exporter of agriculture and agri-food
products.
The value
of shipments from the food and beverage processing industry almost doubled
since 1995 and totaled $103.4 billion in 2014.
Agriculture
was responsible for about 10 per cent of national greenhouse gas emissions
during 2013, and the total has remained “relatively stable between 1990 and
2013,” the government says.
