A growing revolution in Ontario’s greenhouse alley

You can look across North America and you won’t find anything like Essex County in Southwestern Ontario. It’s home to the second largest concentration of greenhouses in the world, growing 4,000 acres of fresh tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers with an annual farmgate value of more than $1.4 billion. Its latest feat is year-round strawberries, and cutting-edge research and development initiatives range from almonds to bananas.

The region’s rise as a greenhouse superpower had humble beginnings: small two-acre family farms built under glass around Leamington in the 1950s. It was enough for an early lead. Over the last 10 years, a combination of technological advancements, government support, consumer demand, and domestic and foreign investment fuelled a rapid boom in greenhouse vegetable production that all told contributed about $6 billion to Ontario’s economy. The sector’s annual growth rate of 5-6% is expected to continue over the next 10 years as well. Large retailers are eagerly moving to greenhouse products, where the controlled environment protects their orders from unexpected weather events like a heavy rainfall or an early frost, which can cause time delays, cancellations, and insurance claims.

Geographically, Essex County is uniquely positioned to catch this greenhouse wave, with its sunny and moderate climate; the abundance of flat open land; and an enviable freshwater supply. In just the five years between 2016 and 2021, the area’s greenhouse footprint expanded by more than 40 million square feet, or about 28%. Add to all this the fact that the Windsor-Detroit border is just a short drive away, and it’s easy to see why so far, Essex County has no American rival and 70% of the region’s greenhouse produce is exported to the U.S.

An opportunity like this doesn’t knock every day. Especially one so perfectly timed to the public mood. This explosive growth in Ontario’s greenhouse food production comes at a critical point. Food security is top of mind around the globe. The United Nations is campaigning for “Zero Hunger” by 2030 as part of the UN Sustainability Goals; more people are aware of the importance of domestic food supply after the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic; and severe weather patterns from climate change are introducing even greater unpredictability. The advantages under the glass are impressive. Ontario greenhouse growers can yield up to 15 times more produce per square metre than open field farming. The shelf-life is longer on a greenhouse product, the pesticide-free growth appeals to consumers, and there’s more diversification in terms of what can be grown in a concentrated area.

All of this makes Ontario’s greenhouse alley one of the most promising and exciting stories in Canadian agriculture. Now, to maximize its potential, it’s going to take greater investment, both to stay competitive and to secure ongoing community support. Greater greenhouse expansion will require sustained investment in the region’s infrastructure, including energy, water, sewage, and roadways. Positively, construction recently began to widen a critical stretch of Highway 3 from two to four lanes, supported by the provincial government. Action has also been taken to build housing for the growing workforce and expand high-speed Internet access across the region.

When thinking about the future of Leamington, it’s important to remember it’s also home to a significant population of temporary foreign workers. While Leamington’s permanent population is around 30,000, an additional 11,500 migrant workers live locally on the farms. The sustainability of this arrangement is enhanced by both government supports—such as the town’s own Mexican consulate and federal workplace protections—as well as local comforts like Leamington’s impressive Mexican food scene.

Signalling the program’s success, these labourers are now staying longer, too. The standard length of an employment contract used to be 6-9 months, but as the industry matures, larger greenhouses are operating year-round under LED lights, making one-year or two-year employment contracts common. This underscores how critical these workers are to the greenhouse boom and how high the stakes are to keep them coming back to Essex County every season.

The region’s greenhouse industry has grown exponentially over the last decade, thanks to technological advancements, government and investor support, and consumer demand. It will take all of that and more to fuel continued growth well into the next decade.