Statistical Overview of the Canadian Ornamental Industry 2020

Prepared by
Crops and Horticulture Division
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
December 2021

Overview

The ornamental horticulture sector includes the floriculture (primarily cut flowers and potted plants), nursery, Christmas tree, and turf sod industries.

Disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic presented a number of challenges for the ornamental horticulture sector in 2020, including closures of both plant production and retail businesses, varying and rapidly changing re-opening plans, increased costs to comply with measures to control the spread of COVID-19 among customers and workers, and general labour and specialist technician shortages resulting from restrictions on travel. When sales resumed in late spring in most of Canada, pent-up demand and a home-bound population drove sales upward by 6.4% from $2.39 billion in 2019 to $2.54 billion in 2020. Retailers adapted to pandemic restrictions by offering online shopping, curbside pick-up and home delivery, as well as physically distanced on-site sales.

Floriculture continues as the largest sub-sector accounting for 66.9% of total ornamental product sales ($1.7 billion) in 2020. Nursery plant sales and resales reached $727 million in 2020, accounting for 28.6% of total ornamental sales. Turf sod generated a further $137 million in sales, contributing 6% of total ornamental production in 2020. 

In 2020, United States purchases were valued $658 million and accounted for 99.5% of total Canadian ornamental exports while United States supplies were valued $284 million, accounting for 51.8% of total Canadian imports.

1. Production

Floriculture (flowering and non-flowering live potted plants, greenhouse and field-cut flowers) remained the largest ornamental sub-sector by revenue, accounting for 66.9% of total sales. The total value of floriculture sales have been increasing over the last decade and rose 7.0% from 2019 to $1.7 billion in 2020, which is 15.9% above the 10-year average. About half of total floriculture sales in 2020 were in Ontario (49.4%), with 24% in British Columbia,14% in Quebec and the remaining provinces accounting for 12.8%. Nursery product sales and resales were up 6.9% to $727.0 million in 2020, accounting for 28.6% of total ornamental sales. By province, Ontario accounted for the largest share of total nursery sales (41.8%), followed by British Columbia (32.0%) and Quebec (14.5%).

While most floriculture production takes place within climate controlled greenhouses, most nursery production takes place outdoors. The 2016 Census of Agriculture showed both sub-sectors increasing in average farm size and decreasing in the number of operations, leading to fewer but larger and more productive operations. The most recent Census of Agriculture was conducted in May 2021 and the results will be released in 2022. The nursery industry is typically more vertically integrated than the floriculture industry with a combination of retail sales (garden centers), landscaping, installation, and maintenance services forming part of the income mix for many producers.  

The total turf sod area decreased nationwide for the sixth consecutive year, down 2.4% to 18,215 hectares in 2020; while the total value of turf sod sales rose by 2.6% to $137.5 million, accounting for 5.4% of total ornamental sales. Ontario led the country in turf sod sales ($54 million) at 39.4% of the national total.

1.1. Number of Canadian ornamental farms[1] by sub-sector

1.2. Area of Canadian ornamental farms[1] by sub-sector (hectares)

1.3. Production of greenhouse flowers and plants by category (number in millions)

1.4. Total area for production of specialized greenhouse flowers and plants by province (square metres)

1.5. Total field-grown flowers area by province (hectares)

1.6. Production of potted plants by variety (number in thousands)

1.7. Production of cuttings by variety (number in thousands)

1.8. Production of cut flowers[1] by variety (number in thousands)

1.9. Field-grown nursery tree and plant production (number in thousands)

1.10. Container-grown nursery tree and plant production by variety (number in thousands)

1.11. Total sod area by province (hectares)

1.12. Sod operations[1] by province (number)

1.13. Christmas tree production[1] by province (number of farms)

1.14. Christmas tree production[1] by province (hectares)

2. Sales and resales

As live plants, the products of the industry are highly perishable; therefore production and sales are closely linked. Restrictions on movement and travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic kept Canadians at home and drove increased spending on ornamental products for the home and garden. Taken together, total annual sales were up 9.5% (to $2.5 billion) in 2020 compared to the previous year. Bedding plants, which include vegetable and other edible plants for home use, saw the greatest annual increase in sales rising 12% from 2019.  Cut flowers was the only product category to decrease, year over year, in 2020 and only by 0.5% to $132.8 million. Nursery stock, mostly woody plants to be replanted outdoors for growing after sales, rose 7% to $727 million.

2.1. Ornamental sales and resales by sub-sector (millions of Canadian dollars)

2.2. Greenhouse flower and plant sales[1] by category (millions of Canadian dollars)

2.3. Greenhouse flower and plant sales and resales by province (millions of Canadian dollars)

2.4. Field-grown cut flower sales by province (thousands of Canadian dollars)

2.5. Nursery stock[1],[2] sales and resales by province (millions of Canadian dollars)

2.6. Sod sales and resales by province (millions of Canadian dollars)

3. Trade

Canada’s largest ornamental trading partner is the United States, accounting for 99.5% of exports by value and 51.8% of imports in the sector. Canadian exports rose in value  by 5.4% from 2019 to $661.3 million in 2020, while imports decreased 3.4% year-over-year to $548.0 million in 2020. Imports to Canada include many plant inputs and soilless finished products from a range of countries including bulbs, cuttings, and cut flowers. Canada exports many live plants with soil to the U.S. including turf sod, potted plants and bedding plants to markets accessible by truck when considering the perishable nature of the goods. Most other countries cannot sell plants with soil to the U.S. for phytosanitary reasons.

3.1. Canadian ornamental trade balance by category (thousands of Canadian dollars)

3.2. Exports

3.2.1. Canadian floriculture and nursery exports[1] by province (thousands of Canadian dollars)

3.2.2. Floriculture and nursery exports by province, 2016–2020

Source: Statistics Canada (CATSNet , July 2021)

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Floriculture and nursery exports by province

	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Ontario	275,071	289,460	312,421	349,521	361,457
British Columbia	106,907	112,102	117,823	138,753	157,484
Quebec	39,640	44,837	54,285	75,857	77,568
New Brunswick	31,614	30,331	34,374	36,419	37,217
Nova Scotia	18,387	18,645	17,669	20,551	21,667

3.2.3. Canada’s top ten floriculture and nursery[1] export destinations (thousands of Canadian dollars)

3.2.4. Christmas tree exports by province[1] (thousands of Canadian dollars)

3.2.5. Christmas tree export value by province, 2016–2020

Source: Statistics Canada (CATSNet, July 2021)

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Christmas tree exports by province

	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Quebec	27,426	34,157	43,576	59,807	56,269
New Brunswick	7,894	7,297	11,233	10,788	10,696
Nova Scotia	7,208	7,072	6,701	9,477	9,455
British Columbia	53	9	686	1,323	1,796

3.2.6. Christmas tree exports by province[1] (number)

3.2.7. Canada’s top ten Christmas tree destinations (thousands of Canadian dollars)

3.2.8. Canada’s top ten Christmas tree destinations (number)

3.2.9. Canada’s floriculture and nursery[1] export destinations by U.S. state (thousands of Canadian dollars)

3.3. Imports

3.3.1. Floriculture and nursery[1] imports by province (thousands of Canadian dollars)

3.3.2. Top ten sources of Canada’s floriculture and nursery[1] imports (thousands of Canadian dollars)

3.4. World trade data

3.4.1. Top ten exporting countries for floriculture, nursery and Christmas trees (thousands of Canadian dollars)

3.4.2. Top ten importing countries for floriculture, nursery and Christmas trees (thousands of Canadian dollars)

4. Channels of distribution

Ornamental products are distributed through multiple channels. The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic saw disruptions in many retail chains, and operating restrictions at most retail stores. As indoor stores were difficult to enter or forced to close for many weeks mass-market chain stores, which are the dominant distributors of floriculture products, saw their proportion of sales drop sharply (-57.7%) in favor of direct sales to the public (up 132.0%). Mass-market chain stores accounted for 27.4% of total sales by value in 2019 but dropped to 11.0% in 2020. Conversely, direct sales to the public accounted for 14.0% of total sales by value in 2019 but rose to 30.4% in 2020. Landscape contractors and garden centers continued to be the two largest distribution channels for nursery products, making up 24.3% and 17.9% of total sales by value, respectively.

4.1. Channels of distribution for flowers and plant sales and resales (millions of Canadian dollars)

4.2. Channels of distribution for flowers and plant sales and resales, 2016–2020

Source: Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0022−01 Channels of distribution for horticulture product sales and resales

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Channels of distribution for flower and plant sales and resales

Description of this image may be found in the preceding section 4.1.

4.3. Channels of distribution for nursery product sales and resales (millions of Canadian dollars)

4.4. Channels of distribution for nursery product sales and resales, 2016–2020

Source: Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0033−01 Channels of distribution for nursery product sales and resales

Description of above image

Channels of distribution for flower and plant sales and resales

Description of this image may be found in the preceding section 4.3.

5. Operating expenses

Greenhouse flower and plant producers operating expenses rose 3.3% over the previous year to $1.1 billion in 2020, which is 1.8% above the 10-year average. Other operating expenses^{Footnote 1} (+6.3%), plant material purchases for growing on (+5.3%), other crop expenses^{Footnote 2} (+5.2%), electricity (+4.2%) and payroll (+1.8%) rose at the fastest pace in 2020. Some increased hiring of permanent employees may have contributed to the increase in payroll expenses. Year over-year greenhouse flower and plant producers’ natural gas costs decreased by 14.1% to $47.2 million in 2020.

Nursery operating expenses edged up 0.6% to $592.9 million, while total payroll expenses increased 1.1% to $197.5 million. The average per person payroll cost grew 7.3% to $22,144 per employee.

Turf sod operating expenses grew 3.0% to $104 million.

5.1. Greenhouse flower and plant[1] producers’ operating expenses by category (millions of Canadian dollars)

5.2. Greenhouse flower and plant producers’ operating expenses by province (millions of Canadian dollars)

5.3. Nursery operating expenses[1] by category (millions of Canadian dollars)

5.4. Nursery operating expenses by province (millions of Canadian dollars)

5.5. Sod operating expenses by category (millions of Canadian dollars)

5.6. Sod operating expenses by province (millions of Canadian dollars)

6. Labour

Labour shortages were among the most pressing concerns facing the horticulture sector in 2020. Rapidly changing COVID-19 control requirements for housing, workspaces, and retail demanded time and resources from firms. Travel restrictions, testing requirements, and availability of air and land transportation limited the ability of seasonal and temporary foreign workers to reach their workplaces in Canada. In 2020, Canada was able to bring 50,126 foreign workers in the agricultural industries, down 6.5% from 2019. Vegetable greenhouse, nursery and floriculture producers reported the largest decline in temporary foreign workers relative to the previous year, landing 1,231 fewer workers (-6.4%) for a total of 18,003.

In 2020, 24,650 people were directly employed in the production of ornamental products, down 3.0% from 2019. 58.1% of these employees worked in specialized greenhouse flower and plant operations, 36.2% in nurseries, and 5.7% on sod farms. Due to the seasonal nature of the ornamental business, each of the sub-sectors employs more seasonal labour (64.5%) than permanent labour (35.5%). Seasonal employees are defined as employees who work less than eight months during the year. The number of permanent employees rose 1.2% to 8,763, while seasonal employees decreased 5.2 % to 15,887.

6.1. Nursery, sod and greenhouse flowers, total employees[1]

6.2. Total employees by sector, 2016–2020

Source: Statistics Canada. Tables 32−10−0026−01 and 32−10−0028−01

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Total employees by sector

Description of this image may be found in the preceding section 6.1.

7. Key Resources

• Global Trade Tracker
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0421−01 Christmas trees
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0019−01 Estimates of specialized greenhouse operations, greenhouse area, and months of operation
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0246−01 Production and sale of greenhouse flowers and plants
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0021−01 Production of plants, flowers and tree seedlings
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0034−01 Estimates of sod area, sales and resales
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0023−01 Total value of greenhouse products
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0032−01 Nursery stock sales and resales
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0022−01 Channels of distribution for horticulture product sales and resales
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0033−01 Channels of distribution for nursery product sales and resales
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0025−01 Specialized greenhouse producers’ operating expenses
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0454−01 Nursery and sod producers' operating expenses
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0026−01 Total greenhouse, sod and nursery employees
• Statistics Canada. Table 32−10−0028−01 Total number of employees of specialized greenhouse operations
• Statistics Canada. CATSNet

HS Codes: All import and export H.S. codes fall under Chapter 06 of the Custom Tariff.

Change in methodology at Statistics Canada in 2016

Operations which exclusively produce tree seedlings for reforestation are outside the scope of the 2016 Census of Agriculture and are therefore not included. Prior censuses may have included their production in “total area of nursery products grown for sale.” Similarly, operations which exclusively produce tree seedlings for reforestation are out of scope since the 2016 greenhouse, sod and nursery survey. Prior surveys have included their production, affecting also greenhouse area, production, sales, labour and expenses variables. Therefore, figures discussed in this report may not be directly comparable with any information gathered in years prior to 2016.

A note of caution has been added to each table where the change in methodology could have an impact.

Census of Agriculture

The most recent results of the Census of Agriculture available are those of the census carried out in 2016. The last Census of Agriculture was conducted in May 2021 and the results will be released in 2022.