Canada’s farmers produced 128.2 million hundredweight of potatoes in 2024, a new all-time high and fourth record year in a row, following 2023 (126.6 million hundredweight), 2022 (123.5 million) and 2021 (121.1 million). (Hundredweight simply refers to 100 pounds—so 2024’s haul translates to 12.82 billion pounds!)
An average nationwide yield of 331.8 hundredweight per harvested acre in 2024 was also a new high mark, beating 2023 (331.7) by a hair.
Although the total seeded area of 394,477 acres in 2024 was the fourth consecutive annual increase, it’s less than half of the record 818,800 acres planted more than a century ago in 1919, which resulted in a comparatively low average yield per harvested acre (92.0 million hundredweight) and production (75.3 million). The increase in yield over time is an indication that farmers can produce more potatoes with less seeded area, thanks to advances in crop science and farming technologies.
Prairies lead production, Prince Edward Island farmers continue their outsized contribution
Alberta farmers produced 30.1 million hundredweight of potatoes in 2024, the highest among provinces for the second year in a row and accounting for nearly one-quarter (23.5%) of national production. Manitoba farmers (27.4 million) contributed just over one-fifth (21.4%).
Both Manitoba and Alberta saw slight production decreases in 2024, while production in Prince Edward Island—famous for its iconic and nutrient-rich red soil—ticked up to 25.9 million hundredweight and one-fifth of Canada’s haul (20.2%).
New Brunswick’s 2024 production (17.0 million) put it in fourth place, a position it has remained in since it sped past Quebec in 2021. Quebec (14.9 million) wasn’t far behind its neighbour in 2024 and notched the largest year-over-year production increase (+3.2 million) among the five provinces to see an increase.
Six provinces seeded more acreage in 2024 than in 2023, led by Quebec (+4,967) and Ontario (+1,538).
Farmers get a record cash haul; exports down in 2024
Canadian farmers took in a record $2.1 billion in cash receipts for fresh potatoes in 2024, up from the previous record of $2.0 billion in 2023.
Potatoes accounted for three-quarters (75.6%) of the $2.6 billion in total operating revenues on farms that reported growing potatoes in 2023, with similar proportions for 2022 (74.0%) and 2021 (75.6%)—an indication that most potato farmers focus on that one crop.
As of December 2024, there were 962 locations across Canada in the potato farming industry. About one in five of them (20.7%) were on Prince Edward Island. This is in line with the 2021 Census of Agriculture, which counted 951 potato farms nationwide, 18.4% of which were on the island.
Canada exported 509 401 tonnes of fresh or chilled potatoes (valued at $511.6 million) in 2024, mostly to the United States. This was down from an all-time high of 603 012 tonnes in 2023 and 583 819 tonnes in 2022.
So far in 2025, the 52 178 tonnes exported in March represent a 13.6% decrease from the same month in 2024. The 48 706 tonnes exported in February were up 1.9% from a year earlier, as were the 55 374 tonnes in January (+6.6%).
Most potatoes available in nearly a decade; consumer prices up
Statistics Canada’s food availability program measures the amount of food physically present in Canada on a per capita basis. Our most recent data are from 2023, when 22.20 kilograms of white fresh potatoes were available per Canadian, the highest amount since 2016 (24.79).
However, since we started tracking in 1988, the series high was reached in 1997 (42.68) and has declined steadily ever since.
On an annual average basis, Canadians paid 3.2% more in 2024 for potatoes at the grocery store. The annual increase in 2023 (+8.9%) wasn’t far from double digits, on the heels of the 40-year-high inflation rate reached in 2022.
However, it wasn’t nearly the sticker shock for potatoes that consumers faced in 1981 (+53.7% from one year earlier), amid broad-based inflation in the early 1980s. Since we started tracking in 1949, the highest increase happened in 1952, when prices nearly doubled (+98.3%).
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