Alberta Potato Industry Contributes $2.87 billion to Economy

A new economic impact report released by the Potato Growers of Alberta (PGA) has found the Alberta potato industry contributed $2.87 billion to Alberta and Canada as a whole in 2022.

“We’re very pleased that we now have an accurate assessment of our industry’s contribution and delighted with the result. The industry could not have grown to this scale without the goodwill and collaboration of all parties involved,” James Bareman, PGA board chairman, said in a press conference.

The report entitled “The Alberta Potato Industry – Growing Success in 2022” also detailed that the Alberta potato industry has 9,390 full time jobs, contributes $662 million in employment income, $1.33 billion in GDP and $87 million in tax revenue to federal and provincial governments.

Other findings in the report include:

• Alberta seed potatoes comprise 60 per cent of Canada’s net international seed potato exports
• Table potato acreage has grown by an average annual rate of 6.4 per cent
• Processing potato product sales, including french fries, hashbrowns, chips, perogies, and others are undergoing surging growth mainly due to rising export opportunities to the United States and Asia
• One irrigated quarter of processing potatoes in Alberta leads to $5 million of total output and 16 full-time jobs generated in Canada
• In 2022, Alberta’s average potato yield was 386.5 hundredweight per acre, higher than Canada’s national average of 295 cwt per acre
• Approximately 54 per cent of Alberta’s seed potatoes are used by Alberta farmers, 20 per cent is sold inter-provincially, and 26 per cent is exported to the U.S.
• Alberta potato export sales have grown by 126 per cent over the past 10 years, while total Canadian exports have grown by 95 per cent

In a press conference about the report release, Bareman noted due to upcoming processing and seed industry expansions in Alberta, the industry is expected to grow by a minimum of 20 per cent over the next three years.