The Centre for Agri-Food Benchmarking has released the National Index on Agri-Food Performance 2025 Update, a comprehensive, evidence-based framework that measures sustainability across Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector.

“Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector is a powerful economic driver, but it’s also heavily scrutinized from a sustainability standpoint,” says Amanda Richardson, executive director, Centre for Agri-Food Benchmarking. “By bringing together the most current national data, the 2025 Index Update drives credibility and increases competitiveness by providing evidence-based insights into sustainability performance.”

As Canada’s agri-food system navigates geopolitical uncertainty, extreme weather events, evolving regulations and rising expectations from consumers and retailers, transparency and credibility have become essential for market access. The Index, built collaboratively by more than 165+ coalition partners across the supply chain, offers an inventory of data for a comprehensive set of indicators and metrics, organized into four sustainability blocks: environment, food integrity, economic and societal well-being. 

Key findings from the 2025 Index Update:

• Environment indicators: Greenhouse gas emissions have plateaued, soil health continues to improve and water quality remains strong. However, methane emissions are increasing, and rising water use signals potential future stress.
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• Food integrity indicators: Food security is worsening, with one in four Canadians experiencing food insecurity in 2023, underscoring affordability as a critical social and policy issue.
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• Economic indicators: The agri-food sector’s economic contributions remain steady but face challenges. GDP output is up, yet the sector’s share of the economy has slightly declined. Rising farm debt ratios and declining R&D investment raise concerns about long-term competitiveness and innovation capacity.
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• Societal well-being indicators: Social indicators are mixed. Fatality rates are falling and wages are increasing, but mental health stress, inclusion gaps and temporary foreign worker non-compliance highlight ongoing vulnerabilities in the sector.

Taken together, these findings underscore that Canada’s agri-food system is making measurable progress, while also identifying areas requiring focused action to remain competitive, resilient and credible both domestically and internationally.

Download the National Index on Agri-Food Performance 2025 Update.

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Centre for Agri-Food Benchmarking and National Index on Agri-Food Performance November 26, 2025 news release