Canada is the world’s third largest exporter of pork and live pigs, with exports representing about two-thirds of total production. Export is supported by an agency called Canada Pork.
Almost 30 million pigs were processed in Canada in 2020. Quebec leads all the other 9 provinces in the total number of pigs slaughtered, followed by Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and other provinces. Major Canadian pork companies include duBreton, Maple Leaf and Maple Lodge. Pig producers are represented by the Canadian Pork Council.
Canada exports pork products to the US, China, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Columbia, Panama and many other countries. Canada also exports feeder hogs to the US (4 million in 2021) as well as market pigs, sows and boars (1.3 million in 2021). Canada imports fresh, frozen and processed pork from the US, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Denmark and other countries.
The Canadian Ractopamine-Free Pork Certification Program provides assurance to international markets that basically all commercial pigs in Canada have never come in contact with the feed additive ractopamine, which is banned in many markets. That assurance is provided through thorough record keeping and routine audits at the farm, feed mills and federally-inspected processing plants (which handle all pork bound for export).
PigUA.info by materials pigprogress.net