Executive Summary
The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is pleased to present its final Investment Monitor Report of 2023: Agriculture and Agri-Food: The Expanding Role of Canadian Companies in the Indo-Pacific, which examines developments in Canada-Asia investment in the agriculture and agri-food sector.
In 2022, the Government of Canada identified agriculture and agri-food as a priority sector for Canada-Asia relations and committed, through its Indo-Pacific Strategy, C$31.8M over the next five years to help expand Canada’s agricultural trade with the region. To take stock of our agriculture investment ties with the Asia Pacific, this report reviews two-way agriculture investment trends at the national and sub-national levels, analyzes the role of specific sectors, identifies top-performing companies, and charts an outlook for the sector in the coming year.
The report finds that over the past 20 years, two-way investment in agriculture has been dominated by Canadian investors abroad, with Australia being the main beneficiary of Canada’s agriculture investment, accounting for more than 88% of Canada’s investment in this sector across the region.
Looking at inward investment, Japan, China, and Thailand were the largest Asia Pacific investors in Canada’s agriculture sector from 2003 to 2022. At the subnational level, Asia’s investors have made the largest investments in agriculture and agri-food in Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia.
The report draws on data from the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s Investment Monitor database, which provides information on Canada-Asia Pacific investment flows at the national and sub-national levels. The database is publicly available on the Investment Monitor website, investmentmonitor.ca. The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is grateful for the sponsorship and support it has received from Export Development Canada for the Investment Monitor project.