A sod story

Don’t let this article get you down—we’ll keep it short, much like that manicured lawn many Canadian households and businesses love to have after a long winter.

Sometimes, achieving that fresh green look means buying sod, especially if your yard has seen better days. Though the amount of sod grown has declined in recent years, it’s still rolling on.

In 2025, Canadian sod producers reported sales of $164.8 million, the highest on record since we started tracking sod sales in 2012. Since hitting a record 10 931 in 2012, the number of hectares grown for sale has declined steadily to 9 549 in 2025.

There was less total sod area in the bumper crop year of 2012 (24 311 hectares) than in 2007 (25 757), the year we started tracking these data. In every year on record, the total sod area has exceeded the area grown for sale.

There were 247 farms in every province reporting sod operations in 2025, down from a high of 335 in 2011 and a low of 194 in 2008.

If you’re a DIYer, you’re probably headed to one of Canada’s 1,697 nursery retailers and garden centres (as of December 2025) which typically sell products such as trees, shrubs, plants, and sod that are predominantly grown elsewhere.

If you’re hiring a pro, there are 27,541 business locations nationwide in the landscaping services industry, whose services include sod laying, in addition to all types of lawn maintenance.

Every two years, the Households and the Environment Survey asks Canadian households about their lawn and gardening practices. The latest data are from 2023, when close to all (96%) households not living in an apartment reported having a lawn or a garden, a rate largely unchanged since 2007 (95%).

In 2023, more than half (56%) of all households reported having a lawn mower, while slightly fewer had grass trimmers (48%) to properly whittle those stubborn weeds in the corners.