Last year, Canadian farmers spent $4 billion on seed.
That’s not an exact number, but an estimate from Seeds Canada, which represents all stakeholders along the seed value chain, including breeders, distributors and retailers.
A surprisingly large portion of that $4 billion is imported seed.
In 2024-25, Canada imported $822 million in seed, with the majority coming from the United States. That’s about 21 per cent of the Canadian market.
However, the $822 million figure isn’t the value of seed that’s sold to Canadian farmers.
“That’s the value declared at the border,” said Lauren Comin, director of policy with Seeds Canada.
There could be further processing, or seed multiplication in Canada, which adds value to the imported seed before it’s sold to a farmer. Canola seed for a new hybrid could be shipped into Canada and then multiplied by a seed grower in southern Alberta.
The primary imports of seeds are vegetables, corn and canola.
Canada is the world leader in canola production. In 2024-25, imports of canola seed (for seeding) were worth $112 million.
Those imports are needed because Canada cannot produce enough canola seed for domestic use. There are several reasons for that, Comin said:
- Isolation distance requirements for trait stewardship.
- Access to irrigated land in southern Alberta where most of the canola seed is grown.
- The need for “contra” seed production in the Southern Hemisphere, to speed up the breeding cycle.
“Could we produce 100 per cent of our (canola) seed in Canada? We could, but the reason we don’t is because canola seed production is more delicate than a wheat or a pulse,” Comin said.
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