Canada planted roughly 37,800 acres of industrial hemp in 2025, a recovery from the 14,800 hectare low of 2024 according to Statistics Canada. The Prairies dominate production, with Manitoba alone accounting for approximately 42 percent of national acreage in 2025.
Where hemp is grown
The three Prairie provinces produce the overwhelming majority of Canadian hemp:
- Manitoba: approximately 42 percent of 2025 acreage
- Alberta: approximately 26 percent
- Saskatchewan: approximately 19 percent
- Remainder spread across British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec, generally on smaller farms
The Prairie climate suits hemp well. The crop requires a relatively short frost-free growing season (90 to 120 days for grain varieties), tolerates the temperature swings characteristic of Prairie summers, and benefits from long daylight hours in the latitudes where it is grown.
The licensing regime
Every commercial hemp grower in Canada requires a licence from Health Canada under the Industrial Hemp Regulations. The application process has a service standard of 60 business days. Licences specify the activities authorised (cultivation, processing, sale, import, export, or breeding), the specific geographic location of the cultivation, and the cultivars to be grown.
As of the 2026 growing season, Health Canada's List of Approved Cultivars contains 93 hemp varieties. A grower may sow only pedigreed seed of an approved cultivar, with documentation traceable back to the seed supplier. Breeding new cultivars requires a separate research licence and admission to the List through a defined approval process.
Grain versus fibre
Hemp can be grown for grain (seed), fibre (stalk), or both. The three production systems involve different agronomy:
Grain. Sown in late May to early June at moderate density. Harvested by combine when the seed heads are mature, typically in September. Most Canadian hemp acreage is grain or dual-purpose; this is the source of the country's hemp food industry.
Fibre. Sown more densely (up to 60 kg per hectare for tall stems). Harvested earlier, before full seed maturity, when the stems are at peak fibre quality. Cut and field-retted (left in the field for microbial breakdown of the pectins holding fibre to hurd) before bailing.
Dual-purpose. A compromise that takes both grain and fibre from the same crop. Common with cultivars bred specifically for it. The economic return depends heavily on local processing capacity for both products.
Inputs and management
Hemp's reputation as a low-input crop is partially earned. It generally outcompetes weeds once established, due to rapid early growth and dense canopy. Few pesticide products are registered for use on hemp in Canada (a regulatory rather than agronomic limitation), so most growers manage pest pressure through rotation and cultivar choice. Nitrogen requirements are moderate, similar to canola or wheat. Water demand depends on cultivar and season; many Prairie growers produce hemp on rainfed land without irrigation.
Yield and economics
Typical Canadian hemp grain yields range from 1,000 to 1,500 kg per hectare in good growing conditions, lower in dry years. Farm-gate prices fluctuate with global demand and Canadian export contracts. The industry is small enough relative to wheat and canola that hemp acreage moves significantly year to year based on contract prices and processor demand, which is the pattern visible in the 2020 to 2025 acreage swings.
The processing bottleneck
The single largest constraint on Canadian hemp industry growth is processing capacity, particularly for fibre. Decortication (the mechanical separation of bast fibre from hurd) is capital-intensive, and Canada has fewer commercial-scale decortication facilities than its hemp acreage could support. Several projects announced in 2024 and 2025 aim to address this gap, but processing remains a slower-moving variable than acreage.