Dean Dias
CEO,
Cereals Canada
JoAnne Buth
Capital Campaign Chair
Canada is known around the world as the top source of the highest quality wheat. To stay on top, we must innovate and collaborate.
Cereal crops like wheat feed the world. From breads to pastas, pastries to cookies, wheat is an ingredient that provides staple foods for 35% of the world’s population. And when those people are looking for the highest quality wheat available, they look to Canada.
The breadbasket of the world
Agriculture is the endeavour that makes civilization possible, even if that fundamental truth is not always apparent from deep within the world’s urban centres. Here in Canada, however, the indispensability of the agriculture and agrifood sector is common knowledge. The sector generates about $150 billion per year (seven per cent of our nation’s total GDP), and one in nine Canadian jobs are in agriculture. We understand it in our bones. And the backbone of Canadian agriculture is still formed of cereals and grains. Wheat, after all, is our single largest field grown crop.
“Wheat is grown across Canada and in every province,” says Dean Dias, CEO of Cereals Canada, the country’s national cereal grains industry association. “In the 2024/25 crop year, Canada is expected to export 25.7 million tonnes of wheat to over 80 countries. This will make Canada the world’s third largest exporter of wheat, and the top exporter of high-quality, high-protein wheat, for the second year in a row. Canadian wheat is highly valued by customers worldwide for its functional protein quality, which makes it an ideal improver wheat for a wide range of end products. This consistent functional quality is desired over 80 countries around the world.”
Innovating our most venerable industry
As the experts of the Canadian cereal grains value chain — from field to table, wherever in the world that table may be — Cereals Canada is deeply invested in growing, cultivating, and expanding our country’s global reputation as a grain leader. We’re the world’s first choice for exceptional wheat today, but we could also be the world’s innovation vanguard for the agriculture of tomorrow. To that end, Cereals Canada recently launched its visions for the Global Agriculture Technology Exchange (Gate) in the heart of Winnipeg.
“Gate is a vision for the future, a hub of innovation, collaboration, and applied research to support global food security,” explains Capital Campaign Chair JoAnne Buth. “It all begins with support and investment in the sector. This investment drives research, innovation, and collaboration that will benefit farmers, the environment, and the economy. When we look to future trends in the global marketplace, we continue to see the growth of plant-based diets, the need for protein-rich foods, and the importance of sustainably grown crops.”
“Gate is about embracing and leveraging what Canada has to offer, so the sector can continue to be successful,” adds Dias. “The future of food lies in innovation and collaboration across agricultural sectors.”
Collaboration is how companies—and countries—prosper together. Gate provides an opportunity for Canadian companies to pool their knowledge and resources, and extend their reach all the way up and down to the value chain, from scientific research to market access initiatives and customer outreach. It is vital work like this that ensures our incredibly rich agricultural sector continues to be able to feed and employ Canadian families, while also providing the finest wheat to the world at large.
To learn more, visit cerealscanada.ca and gate-canada.ca.
