Canada's industrial hemp industry recovered modestly in 2025 after a five-year decline, with 37,800 acres planted according to Statistics Canada. The food side continues to dominate by output value, while the fibre side develops more slowly, constrained primarily by domestic processing capacity.
The food side: consolidation around large producers
Canadian hemp foods are concentrated among a small number of vertically integrated producers, the largest of which distributes through roughly 17,000 North American retail stores. The category is dominated by hulled hemp seed (hemp hearts), hemp protein powder, and hemp seed oil, with growth in value-added formats including wellness bars, granolas, smoothie booster sachets, and superseed snack clusters.
Recent category developments in 2025 and 2026 indicate where the food side is heading:
- Single-serve formats are gaining shelf space, particularly smoothie boosters launched at major US grocery chains in early 2026.
- Superseed clusters and snack bars combining hemp with other Canadian-grown ingredients like flax and oats appeared in mainstream natural channels through 2025.
- Functional ingredient partnerships are emerging, with hemp combined with bioactive fibres and other phytonutrients aimed at specific functional claims.
Smaller players include Mum's Original (an organic small-batch producer in Quebec), Hempola (one of the original 1994-founded Canadian hemp companies), and a number of farmer-direct brands serving regional and bulk markets.
The fibre side: slower, building
Canadian hemp fibre production remains underdeveloped relative to acreage potential. Decortication capacity (the mechanical processing that separates bast fibre from the hurd core) is the binding constraint. Most Canadian-grown fibre is exported as raw or minimally processed material for finishing in Europe or Asia.
Several projects announced in 2024 and 2025 aim to add Canadian decortication capacity, focused on the Prairies. Hempcrete construction, supported by the rising profile of biogenic building materials, is a growing demand source for hemp hurd.
The shift toward Regenerative Organic
The category's premium tier is moving toward Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) hemp, a certification added on top of standard organic certification. The standard, administered by the Regenerative Organic Alliance, requires demonstrable practices in soil health (cover crops, reduced tillage, crop diversity), animal welfare, and social fairness for farmworkers. Multiple Canadian growers have entered the multi-year ROC transition, and the largest food producer in the category prominently launched its first ROC-marketed product line in April 2026.
For producers, ROC requires both agronomic changes and additional documentation. The market is rewarding the effort with premium pricing in the natural channel.
Export destinations
Canada exported the majority of its hemp food production in 2024 and 2025. The largest destination markets, in approximate order:
- United States
- South Korea
- Japan
- European Union (Germany, Netherlands, France)
- United Kingdom
Export of cannabinoid products is separately regulated under the Cannabis Act and is much smaller in volume than food exports.
What 2026 looks like
Three trends are shaping the year:
- Continued premiumisation in the food category, with single-serve, functional, and ROC-certified products gaining share over commodity hemp seed.
- Slow but real expansion of Canadian decortication capacity, with several pilot-scale facilities operational and larger commercial projects in planning.
- Pending Health Canada consultation on simplifying the Industrial Hemp Regulations, potentially streamlining licensing and cultivar approval. Final regulatory changes are not yet published.