Alberta produces roughly $47 billion a year in agriculture and food products when both raw farm commodities and the food and beverages processed from them are counted. This article sets out where that output is sold, divided into four destinations: used within Alberta, shipped to the rest of Canada, exported to the United States, and exported to all other countries. It then breaks down the three largest commodities, beef, wheat, and canola, the same way. Dollar figures are for 2022, the most recent year with a complete provincial trade-flow breakdown, and are stated at producer (basic) prices unless noted.
Alberta agriculture carries an export-heavy reputation, and there is truth in it. Roughly a third of what the province grows and processes is sold to the world. But that reputation hides a bigger fact. The largest customer for Alberta food is not a foreign buyer at all. It is Alberta itself, followed closely by the rest of Canada. Where the foreign share goes depends entirely on the product. Beef leans on the United States, while wheat and canola lean on markets an ocean away. The numbers that follow show a sector that is far more domestic, and far more varied, than the headline story suggests.
The overall picture
Across all Alberta agriculture and food production, close to half stays inside the province and about seven in ten dollars are sold inside Canada.
Data from Table 1: Alberta produces about $47.4 billion in agriculture and food products a year. Of that total, $22.4 billion, or 47 percent, is used within Alberta. A further $11.1 billion, or 23 percent, is shipped to the rest of Canada. The United States buys $7.4 billion, or 16 percent. All other countries together buy $6.5 billion, or 14 percent.
Within Alberta accounts for the largest share because cattle are fed and slaughtered in the province, canola is crushed in the province, and wheat is milled in the province. The rest of Canada takes about a quarter, mostly as processed food and beverages. About 30 percent of total production is exported outside Canada, with the United States as the largest single foreign buyer.
Beef
Alberta beef, meaning fresh and frozen beef and veal, is a product of roughly $7.9 billion. About 57 percent is sold within Canada and about 43 percent is exported.
Data from Table 2: Alberta beef production is worth about $7.9 billion. Of that, $0.97 billion, or 12 percent, is used within Alberta. The rest of Canada takes $3.48 billion, or 44 percent. The United States buys $2.61 billion, or 33 percent. Other countries buy $0.82 billion, or 10 percent.
The single largest destination is the rest of Canada, followed by the United States. Of the beef that is exported, the United States buys about three-quarters, with the remainder going to Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and other markets. Alberta Beef Producers reports that the United States accounted for about 76 percent of Canadian beef exports and nearly all live cattle exports in 2024.
Wheat
Alberta wheat is a crop of roughly $4.3 billion. About half is exported outside North America.
Data from Table 3: Alberta wheat production is worth about $4.3 billion. Of that, $1.25 billion, or 29 percent, is used within Alberta. The rest of Canada takes $0.63 billion, or 15 percent. The United States buys $0.24 billion, or 6 percent. Other countries buy $2.20 billion, or 51 percent.
The largest buyers of Canadian wheat are China, Indonesia, Japan, and Bangladesh, along with markets across Africa, Latin America, and Europe. The United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service ranks the United States as the fourth-to-fifth largest buyer of Canadian non-durum wheat. About 6 percent of Alberta wheat production is sold to the United States.
Canola
Alberta canola seed is a crop of roughly $4.9 billion. Most of it is crushed within Alberta into oil and meal.
Data from Table 4: Alberta canola seed production is worth about $4.9 billion. Of that, $3.07 billion, or 63 percent, is used within Alberta. The rest of Canada takes $0.23 billion, or 5 percent. The United States buys $0.08 billion, or 2 percent. Other countries buy $1.50 billion, or 31 percent.
Of the seed that is exported, China is the largest market, followed by Japan, the European Union, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, in its 2024-25 field crop outlook, lists these five as the top markets for Canadian canola seed and does not place the United States among them. About 2 percent of Alberta canola seed production is sold to the United States. The United States is a large buyer of canola oil and canola meal, which are separate processed products and are not included in the seed figures above.
Live cattle
Live cattle, a product of roughly $6.7 billion, largely stay in the province, which is the reason beef appears more domestic than the cattle sector overall.
Data from Table 5: Alberta live cattle production is worth about $6.7 billion. Of that, $5.38 billion, or 80 percent, is used within Alberta. The rest of Canada takes $0.55 billion, or 8 percent. The United States buys $0.76 billion, or 11 percent. Other countries buy $0.04 billion, or 1 percent.
Eighty percent of Alberta live cattle are fed and processed within the province. The portion exported live goes almost entirely to the United States, and that value re-enters the export data later as beef.
The three commodities side by side
Data from Table 6: For beef, 12 percent is used within Alberta, 44 percent goes to the rest of Canada, 33 percent goes to the United States, and 10 percent goes to other countries. For wheat, 29 percent is used within Alberta, 15 percent goes to the rest of Canada, 6 percent goes to the United States, and 51 percent goes to other countries. For canola seed, 63 percent is used within Alberta, 5 percent goes to the rest of Canada, 2 percent goes to the United States, and 31 percent goes to other countries.
The United States takes about a third of Alberta beef, about 6 percent of Alberta wheat, and about 2 percent of Alberta canola seed.
What it means
Alberta agriculture is more domestic than the export-heavy reputation suggests. About seven in ten dollars of output are sold inside Canada, and close to half never leave the province, mostly because cattle are fed and slaughtered here, canola is crushed here, and wheat is milled here. That home base is the single largest market by a wide margin.
The rest of Canada is the second pillar, taking roughly a quarter of output, largely as processed food and beverages. This is the quiet trading relationship that rarely gets attention but is worth more than any single foreign buyer.
Outside Canada, the picture splits sharply by commodity. The United States is the largest foreign buyer overall and dominates beef, taking about a third of Alberta beef and nearly all live cattle exports, a reflection of how tightly the two cattle sectors are integrated across the border. For grains and oilseeds the story flips. Overseas markets, led by China for canola and by China, Indonesia, Japan, and others for wheat, matter far more than the US, which buys only about 6 percent of Alberta wheat and 2 percent of the canola seed.
The practical takeaway is that exposure is not uniform. A disruption to US trade would hit beef and live cattle hardest, while wheat and canola seed are more exposed to Asian and other overseas buyers. No single foreign market carries the whole sector, but each major commodity leans on a different partner.
How these figures were compiled
The four categories were built in two steps because no single dataset reports all four.
1. The within-Alberta, rest-of-Canada, and international shares are from Statistics Canada trade-flow tables for reference year 2022: Table 12-10-0088 (summary level) for the overall figures and Table 12-10-0101 (detail level) for wheat, canola, cattle, and beef. These tables are an origin-by-destination matrix that records where output from each province is delivered.
2. The split of international sales between the United States and other countries is from export-destination data. The overall figure uses Government of Alberta agri-food export data for 2024. The beef figure uses Alberta Beef Producers data for 2024. The wheat figure uses United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service rankings. The canola figure uses the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 2024-25 field crop outlook. Country shares are applied to the 2022 international export values and are approximate.
A note on method: no single table reports all four destinations, so these figures combine two sources. The within-Alberta, rest-of-Canada, and total-international dollars come straight from Statistics Canada trade-flow tables for 2022 and reconcile exactly. The only estimated layer is the split of international sales between the United States and other countries, applied from 2024 export data. That split is firmly sourced for beef and for the overall total. For wheat and canola seed it is drawn from published market rankings rather than measured dollar splits, so treat those two US shares as directional. Every other number is measured, not estimated.
Sources
- Statistics Canada, Table 12-10-0088, Interprovincial and international trade flows, basic prices, summary level, 2022.
- Statistics Canada, Table 12-10-0101, Interprovincial and international trade flows, basic prices, detail level, 2022.
- Statistics Canada, Table 12-10-0175, International merchandise trade by province, commodity, and Principal Trading Partners.
- Government of Alberta, Agricultural trade services for exporters, alberta.ca, 2024.
- Alberta Beef Producers, submission on United States tariff consultations, 2025.
- United States Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, Grain and Feed Annual, Canada, 2025.
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada Outlook for Principal Field Crops, 2025.