See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source

Where is the American food boycott? And where is Canada’s agri-food trade diversification?

CHARLEBOIS: New data showing Canada’s food boycott from America is all talk Back to video

The latest Statistics Canada figures, which came out this week, suggest that both ambitions have yet to meaningfully change our dependence on the United States. Between January and August 2026, Canadian agri-food imports from the United States declined by 0.7%, compared with the same period in 2025. That might sound like evidence that Canadians’ determination to avoid American products is having an impact. But Canada’s total agri-food imports declined by 1.2%.

Consequently, the American share of our agri-food imports increased from 47.09% to 47.33%, a gain of 0.24 percentage points.

The export picture is equally revealing. Between January and August 2025, the United States received 61.92% of Canada’s agri-food exports. During the same period in 2026, that share reached 61.98%. Both figures round to 62%.

Despite the boycott rhetoric and repeated calls to find new markets, our agri-food trade remains anchored to the same customer and supplier.

Limits to what figures tell us

There are also limits to what these figures tell us. Import values do not directly measure consumers’........

© Edmonton Sun