A lot has changed in the last 100 years, but at least one thing at Statistics Canada hasn't: tracking strawberry data. As one of Canada's favourite fruits reaches full season, the agency's historical records offer a look back at nearly a century of production trends.

Statistics Canada began tracking national-level, marketed production of fresh strawberries in 1926, when farmers across Canada produced 10.4 million quarts (there are roughly four cups in a quart). Production more than doubled a decade later, reaching 21.7 million quarts.

It would take until 1968, when production reached 35.3 million quarts, to come close to the bumper crop of 1948, which yielded 36.2 million quarts. A record high was set in 1980, at 48.1 million quarts, the second-last year for which quart data were recorded.

British Columbia led the provinces in production in most years during this period, peaking in 1948 with 18.0 million quarts.

From 1982 to 1995, production data were measured solely in tons (converted here to metric tonnes) and were only available for select provinces. Québec, Ontario and British Columbia accounted for most of the production during this period.

Ontario's production peaked in 1995 at 15,441 tons, while Québec's peaked in 1985 at 10,000 tons. Production in British Columbia topped out in 1988 at 10,030 tons, followed by a steady decline through to 1995, when it fell to 2,850 tons.

In Atlantic Canada, Prince Edward Island's production peaked at 907.2 tonnes on three occasions (1983, 1984 and 1986); Nova Scotia twice reached 2,835 tonnes (1984 and 1985); and New Brunswick's peak of 2,268 tonnes in 1987 represented an increase of almost three-quarters (+74.0%) from 1982.

The publication of national-level data resumed in 1996, when production reached 28,571 tons, a peak that would stand until 2025, when production rose to 32,202 tons. In the intervening years, 2017 came closest to that mark, with 28,372 tons produced.

A record haul from Québec, at 19,685 tons, helped drive the new nationwide record in 2025. Québec has led all provinces in strawberry production in every year since 1996, with the exception of 1999.

A small but growing share of fresh strawberries in Canada is grown in greenhouses. In 2025, greenhouse production reached 11.6 million kilograms, up by more than one-half (+54.7%) from 2024 and more than triple the volume recorded in 2020 (+355.5%), the first year for which such data were tracked.

Statistics Canada's annual food availability series estimates the amount of food available in Canada on a per-capita basis. The 3.41 kilograms of strawberries available per Canadian in 2025 coincided with that year's record production and represented the highest quantity available per Canadian since 2018, when 3.45 kg were recorded.

Strawberries grown in fields across Canada in 2025 had a farm gate value of $213.9 million, an increase of $44.8 million over 2024. This marked the largest year-over-year increase in value since 2017, when the increase was $15.4 million.

Greenhouse-produced strawberries were valued at $114.6 million in 2025, up from $75.2 million in 2024.

Source: Government of Canada July 9, 2026 news release