Canadian Hog Processing Industry

The meat industry is Canada's third largest industry with recorded sales of Cdn $10.2 billion in 1996 (see Table 1) and 35,532 employees (see Table 2). The nation-wide industry has a major presence in all regions, but is more heavily concentrated near livestock production centres for hog processing (see Table 3) and near major population centres for pork processing.

Pork accounts for approximately 40% of total Canadian meat production

	CANADIAN PORK PRODUCTION ('000 tonnes)
1987	1,122
1988	1,182
1989	1,177
1990	1,124
1991	1,096
1992	1,208
1993	1,194
1994	1,229
1995	1,276
1996	1,228
1997	1,257
1998	1,393
1999	1,564
2000	1,640
2001	1,731
2002	1,857
2003	1,881
2004	1,935
2005	1,918
2006	1,900
2007	1,907
2008	1,948
2009	1,943
2010	1,926

In recent years, the industry has restructured focusing on those facilities that have high speed kill and the latest technology, resulting in fewer, better focused, more modern cost effective plants.

The Canadian pork industry is competitive with state-of-the-art equipment and technology and has always been able to adapt to changing trade environments as proven by its long export tradition which goes back to the 19th Century.

Canada enjoys an excellent reputation for its pork products. It is based on its ability to provide pork which is lean, high yielding, wholesome and which meets buyers' exacting specifications. The Canadian pork industry is committed to be responsive to customers' needs and to build consumer satisfaction and enhanced loyalty.

Pork is one of the few meats that can be included in all meals of the day and over the years, the Canadian pork packers and processors have developed a very wide range of high quality pork products that can make of each meal a delightful experience.

	Table 1 STRUCTURE OF THE MEAT PROCESSING INDUSTRY IN CANADA 1988-1998
	# Enterprises	Shipment value ($ million)
1988	536	8,744
1989	524	8,723
1990	523	8,962
1991	496	8,487
1992	473	8,521
1993	467	9,215
1994	454	9,530
1995	457	9,638
1996	480	10,200
1997	477	11,206
1998	n/a	11,274

(Source: Statistiques Canada Catalogue 32-250)

	Table 2 MEAT PROCESSING IN CANADA - 1996
	Nombre d'usines	Total d'employés	Expéditions ($ million)
Total	477	37,377	10,944.7

Source: Statistics Canada Catalogue 32-250. Manufacturing Industries of Canada: National and Provincial Areas - Food and Beverage Industries.

	Table 3 NUMBER OF HOGS SLAUGHTERED IN FEDERALLY INSPECTED ESTABLISHMENTS BY PROVINCE - 1991-2010
	British Columbia	Alberta	Sasketchewan	Manitoba	Ontario	Québec	Atlantic Provinces	Canada-Total
1991	406,055	1,829,754	683,845	1,877,475	3,519,283	4,447,983	523,946	13,288,341
1992	466,449	2,105,162	892,393	1,996,791	3,665,975	4,649,790	518,519	14,285,079
1993	466,801	1,958,783	911,088	1,752,234	3,699,487	4,685,654	478,947	13,952,994
1994	504,761	1,946,910	953,742	1,911,098	3,638,206	4,795,246	448,226	14,198,189
1995	447,699	2,056,558	848,544	1,885,753	3,642,412	5,196,579	468,712	14,546,257
1996	326,094	1,997,809	866,647	1,823,757	3,006,597	5,562,562	464,126	14,047,592
1997	191,887	2,071,795	874,906	1,960,600	2,653,340	5,991,051	461,352	14,204,931
1998	197,897	1,414,342	1,014,176	2,692,474	2,710,233	7,064,171	478,743	15,572,036
1999	208,336	1,951,605	982,910	2,937,469	3,508,4522	7,453,702	515,724	17,558,198
2000	230,004	1,908,440	900,291	3,802,265	3,462,521	7,586,903	485,892	18,376,316
2001	327,962	2,042,739	1,007,541	4,025,769	3,674,880	7,822,485	513,647	19,415,023
2002	379,431	2,408,403	1,096,005	4,281,9630	4,008,722	8,105,451	522,950	20,802,925
2003	381,043	2,664,114	1,109,502	4,211,215	4,196,777	8,119,790	503,006	21,185,447
2004	380,907	2,884,897			4,182,608			21,744,323
2005	376,727	3,001,928			4,143,047			21,218,606
2006	376,438	3,121,164			4,056,424			20,699,786
2007	389,010	2,813,922			4,375,591			20,206,157
2008	429,634	2,594,011			4,712,562			20,678,450
2009	387,984	2,497,067			4,557,128			20,797,411
2010	367,543	2,560,487			4,058,381			20,292,305

Atlantic Provinces include New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland

(Source: Livestock Market Review, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

	Table 4 AVERAGE WARM WEIGHTS OF INSPECTED SLAUGHTER 1990-2010
	(KG)
1990	79.3
1991	79.6
1992	81.2
1993	81.7
1994	82.6
1995	84.1
1996	84.1
1997	84.9
1998	85.5
1999	86.3
2000	87.0
2001	87.3
2002	87.5
2003	87.5
2004	88.5
2005	89.7
2006	90.9
2007	93.1
2008	93.2
2009	92.6
2010	94.0

(Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)