Organic Agriculture By the Numbers
The Canada Organic Trade Association (COTA) leads the effort to provide estimates on the number of certified organic operators (producers, livestock operations and processors) and acreage for the Canadian organic sector. Annual Organic Agriculture by the Numbers releases provide a snapshot of operators and acreage trends across the country.
COTA relies on the voluntary provision of data from organic certification bodies, which all have their own data classification and reporting systems. This creates data gaps and inconsistencies, but is the best alternative at this time given the lack of mandatory data collection by the government. Since 2015, there has been almost universal participation from certification bodies, resulting in the best estimate of operations and acreage in Canada. COTA thanks all participating certification bodies for their voluntary participation in this much needed data collection.
