Beyond the Bowl: How Pet Food Can Strengthen Canada’s Agricultural Economy

When we think about Canada’s food system, we often focus on the food that ends up on our own plates. However, there is another growing market creating opportunities for Canadian agriculture: pet food. Canada’s pet food market is significant and continues to grow. In 2024, Canadian retail sales of pet food reached $6.7 billion, with dog and cat food accounting for approximately $6.6 billion of that total. Canada was also the fifth-largest global importer of retail dog and cat food in 2023, with imports valued at approximately $1.8 billion. (1) For economic developers, this is a market worth looking at beyond the grocery aisle.

This demand represents an opportunity to further connect Canadian agricultural production with a market that is increasingly focused on nutrition, quality, sustainability and ingredient transparency. Pet owners are increasingly looking for products that support the health and well-being of their animals, creating demand for high-quality and specialized pet food products. (1)(4) For farmers, processors and regional economies, that demand can create new value-added opportunities.

Guelph’s Royal Canin: A Local Manufacturing Connection

One example is Royal Canin, which has been manufacturing pet food in Canada since 2008. Thecompany’s Canadian factory and headquarters are located in Guelph, Ontario. Royal Canin emphasizes research, nutritional science and quality control in the development and production of its products. (3) Its Guelph facility produces more than 120 veterinary and 250 healthy-pet dry-food SKUs, with an on-site laboratory evaluating formulas for safety, quality, nutritional precision and performance. The company also says its North American supply chain includes local sourcing when possible. In March 2026, parent company Mars announced a $39-million investment in the Guelph operation, expected to increase production capacity by 12 percent, reduce thermal energy use by 12 percent and reduce electrical energy use by 11 percent. (6)(7)

For Canadian farmers and food processors, the opportunity goes beyond simply supplying raw commodities. The pet food industry is increasingly looking for ingredients that provide specific nutritional and functional benefits. Pulse Canada identifies pet food as an important emerging market for Canadian pulses. Approximately 30 percent of new pet food launches globally include a pulse ingredient, while peas are the most used pulse ingredient among these products. (2) This shift from commodity supply to value-added ingredients can create new markets for Canadian crops.

Turning Canadian Crops into Value-Added Pet Nutrition

Canadian peas and other pulses can provide protein, fibre and other nutritional characteristics that make them useful in pet food formulations. This creates an opportunity for Canadian pulse growers to access a growing value-added market beyond traditional human food applications. (2) There may also be environmental benefits to incorporating Canadian agricultural ingredients into pet food. Pulse Canada reports that reformulating dry dog food with Canadian peas could reduce climate impacts by as much as 47% compared with traditional formulations. (2)

The opportunity is particularly relevant as pet ownership remains widespread across Canada. In 2024, approximately 12.2 million Canadian households owned at least one dog or cat, representing an estimated 17.2 million cats and dogs across the country. (1) As the number of pets and the amount spent on their food continues to grow, the demand for agricultural ingredients used in pet food is likely to remain an important part of the broader food market. That scale of demand reinforces the potential for pet food to become an increasingly important market for Canadian agricultural ingredients.

From Food-System Co-Products to New Value

Pet Food is additionally an important opportunity to repurpose high-quality materials from the broader food system. Dry pet food can contain animal-based ingredients such as meat, poultry and fish, as well as concentrated rendered meals produced from suitable animal tissues. These ingredients can provide valuable sources of protein and minerals while allowing agricultural products and co-products from food processing to be used rather than going to waste. (5) In this way, pet food manufacturing can add value to materials already produced within the food and agricultural system while transforming them into nutritionally valuable products for pets.

For regions such as Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe, where agriculture and food processing are closely connected, pet food represents another avenue to strengthen local food production and capture more value within the Canadian food system. With growing consumer demand, increasing interest in sustainable ingredients and pet food manufacturing already taking place in the Golden Horseshoe, the next opportunity may be sitting not on our dinner plates, but in our pets’ bowls. Royal Canin’s presence in Guelph provides a tangible example of how pet food manufacturing can connect agriculture, food processing, research and advanced manufacturing within the region.

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