Canadian trading partners
In 2021, Canada exported seven million kilograms of cheese, amounting to about 68 million Canadian dollars in export value. Canada has a trade deficit when it comes to cheese; importing 47 million kilograms of cheese in that same year. Most of these imports come from France, Italy, and the United States, which are all world renowned for their high-quality artisanal cheese.Cheese consumption
Canadian cheese prices has increased in the last two years. In 2021, one kilogram of cheese cost 16.4 Canadian dollars on average, an increase from 15.14 Canadian dollars in 2019. Cheese consumption, in comparison, has increased. The average Canadian was estimated to consume around 13.5 kilograms of cheese in 2022, an increase of over 15 percent since 2010, when annual per capita consumption stood at 10.7 kilograms. When looking at retail sales, it is easy to see that consumers in Canada have a preference for unprocessed cheese. Processed cheese often has a longer shelf-life, is more uniform, and easier to melt than unprocessed cheese. However, certain varieties do not contain enough dairy to be classified as cheese and must instead be labelled as "cheese product" or "cheese spread".
