Canadian farmers planted a record high 950 hectares of garlic in 2023, according to Statistics Canada.

Marketed garlic production and sales dipped from the record highs of a year earlier. Despite the increase in planted area, fresh garlic marketed production was down 1.7 per cent from the record high a year earlier to 1 918 tonnes in 2023. Nevertheless, this was 80.4 per cent higher compared with a decade earlier.

Canadian farmers received $22.9 million for their garlic in 2023, down 0.9% from the record high in 2022, but over double what they received a decade earlier ($11.1 million).

Garlic is grown and sold in every province in Canada. Ontario ($9.9 million) and Québec ($8 million) farmers sold the most garlic in 2023. Garlic farm gate sales in British Columbia were a distant third, at $3.5 million. While marketed production of garlic trended upwards in Ontario and Québec from 2014 to 2023, it fell by almost half in British Columbia (-46.1%).

Garlic is more readily available on store shelves today compared with even a decade ago.

Just over half a kilogram (0.54 kg) of fresh garlic per person was available for consumption in Canada in 2022, the most recent year for which data are available. This was 50 per cent  higher compared with the beginning of the millennium, when 0.36 kg were available per person.

Source:  Statistics Canada