Toronto Global Forum: What Will It Take for Canada to Become a Food Superpower?

Canada has the land, the water and the expertise to meet global food demand by turning a larger share of its harvest into finished goods. But the country’s food industry needs investors willing to back companies ready to grow. 

That opportunity was the focus of “Canada becoming a food superpower - what will it take?”, a panel discussion at the 20th annual Toronto Global Forum, organized by the International Economic Forum of the Americas (IEFA). The panel, moderated by Ashley Salazar, Head, Industry Initiatives and Partnerships, BMO Commercial Bank, Canada, featured:

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  Justine Hendricks, President and CEO, Farm Credit Canada (FCC) 

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  Arlene Dickinson, General Partner, Velocity Agri-Capital Partners, and a longtime cast member on CBC’s Dragons’ Den. 

The session focused on how Canadian food companies could become more self-reliant, win customers abroad and find the financing to grow. Here are the highlights: 

In the eyes of Justine Hendricks, Canada is already an agriculture and food superpower. Her advice, however, is that the country needs to innovate more boldly. 

Hendricks said Canada is generally seen as an exporter of high-quality agricultural products rather than a maker of the final product. For example, she said some pasta in Italy uses Canadian wheat and some producers of Dijon mustard use Canadian mustard seed. That means Canada is losing some of the value of that final stage abroad, Dickinson added. 

In Dickinson’s view, tariffs have exposed the country’s reliance on the U.S. as its main customer while floods and fires have made food security more urgent. With policy and capital now aligned, she said it’s time to put money to work in a sector that helps feed people around the world. “Not only has Canada’s food and agriculture sector been underserved, it is now underpriced,” she said. “That’s an investment opportunity that I get very excited about.” 

With so many ways to add value to Canadian crops, BMO’s Ashley Salazar asked which avenue offered the greatest opportunity. Dickinson believes Canada should pursue all of them, from processing to commercialization, brands and innovation. To reach more consumers globally, Canadian food needs to suit global customers’ tastes and packaging preferences.  

That will take more processing capacity, she noted, with robotics playing a role in some facilities. “You need to see more manufacturing plants all around rural Canada,” she said. “And more jobs created as a result.” 

With Canadian food companies diversifying their trade and exploring new markets beyond the U.S., Dickinson said they need to learn more about those customers. Her fund is working with an Asian partner to take Canadian firms abroad and bring ideas and expertise from the region back home.  

Hendricks said diversifying Canadian food and beverage trade is creating an estimated $12-billion opportunity. She argued that expanding into more markets could also reduce companies’ reliance on a single customer. 

The opportunity extends to the intellectual property behind the food, noted Dickinson. Canadian innovations that let farmers cope with difficult weather or conserve water could also serve countries facing similar challenges.  

She believes Canada already has the talent to develop those solutions and sell them abroad. “We’re known globally for the quality of the food we grow,” she said. “Now we need to be known for how we can take agriculture and help feed the world in a more meaningful way.” 

With financing already a hurdle, Salazar asked what else stood in the way of promising food companies seeking expansion abroad. Dickinson cautioned Ottawa against becoming complacent, warning that companies may leave Canada once they reach a certain size. 

While some of those businesses move to the U.S. to grow, others fold for lack of access to funding. She urged pension funds that invest billions outside the country to focus on reinvesting in the sector closer to home. “We can’t wait for other capital to come to Canada,” she said. “We have to put our capital to work here first.” 

To help close that gap, Hendricks said FCC’s investment arm has put almost $500 million into agriculture and food technology in about 18 months, attracting roughly $3 from other investors for every $1 of its own.  

Separately, FCC now offers project financing for processing and manufacturing facilities. With its knowledge of the sector, FCC can work alongside other lenders on smaller deals they might otherwise skip. 

Salazar closed by asking where Canada could be in five years and what decisions it needed to make today. Hendricks said she expects the sector to attract more students, engineers and bankers who see it as part of the country’s future.  

She also pictured ports and rail expanding to get more Canadian products to customers overseas. “The diversification that we can deliver is going to start to become the story,” she said. “I love maple syrup but from a food point of view, we’ll be known for more than that.” 

The panel's message was clear: Canada's food sector has the products, the talent, and the market access to compete globally. What many growing companies need now is the right capital and the right partners to scale at home. As Canada's food sector expands, partnership between public and private investment will be critical to keeping businesses growing at home rather than seeking opportunities elsewhere. 

BMO, a long-time leader in agricultural and food financing, continues to support producers, processors and agri-food businesses with the capital and expertise needed to scale operations, invest in innovation and compete globally. As Canada’s oldest bank, BMO has a reputation as a reliable, trusted, and proven financial partner through generations of economic growth and change. 

Learn more about BMO's capabilities in the agriculture sector or get in touch with a banker.