Honey is one of hundreds of Canadian products that have been hit with a 50 per cent tariff to enter the United States, grinding exports to a halt. More honey staying north of the border could mean lower prices for consumers in the short term.
But over time, the loss of Canada’s largest export market for honey could take a toll on producers — and, due to honey bees’ contribution to the pollination sector, the overall food system.
“When there’s abundance, prices may plummet, but it doesn’t mean that that will be healthy for the industry in the long term,” says Armağan Özbilge, an assistant professor in Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Management . “So we may enjoy a year of cheap honey, but we’re talking about a bigger industry issue.”
According to the Alberta Beekeepers Commission , 80.2 per cent of the exported quantity of Canadian honey and 69.1 per cent of the value went to the United States between January and April 2026 alone.
The United States’ 50 per cent levy “has the potential to dramatically impact producers of honey,” says Mike von Massow, a professor at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College . “You can’t lay bees off. You’re still producing. You have to maintain the bees. You have to keep them healthy.”
Beekeepers operate in all provinces, but the prairies house most of Canada’s honey bee colonies (63 per cent). Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta were responsible for 80 per cent of total national honey production in 2025, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada . While Alberta produces the most honey (40.7 per cent by volume), Manitoba is the biggest exporter (54.5 per cent by volume).
For some honey producers, such as Podolski Honey Farms in Ethelbert, Man., the U.S. tariffs reportedly severed 90 per cent of customers. “But that’s not the whole picture,” says Paul Gregory, a commercial beekeeper and vice chair of the Manitoba Beekeepers’ Association . “We have some tools available to us. It’s serious. We are kind of hunkering down.”
For the last couple of years, producers had “fairly poor” honey prices, but they were on a trajectory to go higher. “That’s probably not going to happen now because there’s a short crop,” says Gregory. He’s heard from beekeepers across the prairies that honey yield is down, which he credits partially to climate change. “If we had a really big honey crop this year, then we could see real price deterioration. But with the short crop, I think there’ll be similar prices to last year (this fall).”
Rod Scarlett, executive director of the Canadian Honey Council , says that a significant amount of honey was shipped to the U.S. prior to the implementation of the tariffs. If that hadn’t been the case, the economic impact would likely be more keenly felt by exporters, but there’s honey stuck in limbo nonetheless.
“The economic impact may not be extreme yet, but if this extends, let’s say, into the new year, then we have a completely different set of problems that will impact not only honey production but probably pollination and the pollination sector, which is quite a bit bigger than the honey sector,” says Scarlett.
As Barbara Engelbart McKenzie, executive director of the Alberta Beekeepers Commission, highlights, flowering crops across Canada depend on pollination, from canola to blueberries — and that pollination comes from bees. “There’s a massive risk in the industry if we don’t have strong bee pollination. We could see lower crop valuations and crops actually decline as well.”
Özbilge echoes this concern: “When we talk about honey, it impacts other industries due to that pollination. And having a drop in agricultural production, it will definitely have some side effects on other food items.”
The industry is looking at ways to broaden its horizons with export partners and bolster homegrown honey with more domestic marketing. “But some of these things take time. They take a contribution from the government and action from the government,” says Scarlett.
Gregory has been beekeeping since he was a teenager, for more than 50 years. At his family-run operation, Interlake Honey Producers Ltd. , in Fisher Branch, north of Winnipeg, he has roughly 1,000 colonies. He has exported comb honey to Japan — Canada’s second-largest export market at 44.1 per cent by value in 2025, versus the U.S.’s 52.9 per cent — and sees the greatest opportunities for growth in developing other export markets for Canadian honey, such as the Middle East, India and other countries in Asia. “We’re known for quality honey, and we just have to do more work to that end.”
Canada imports more honey than it exports, “and those imports are coming in cheap,” says Scarlett, who sees an opportunity to displace foreign products with domestic ones — especially when it comes to commercial users of industrial honey.
The Canadian Honey Council has called on commercial users of industrial honey, including General Mills and Kellogg’s, “to proudly proclaim that they use Canadian honey in their products.” Neither company responded to National Post’s request for comment.
“We know that there are these huge amounts of imports coming in for the industrial market. We don’t know exactly where it’s being used, but one would hope that Canadian companies recognize the stress that this industry is under, and would proudly display one of their ingredients,” says Scarlett.
Engelbart McKenzie also sees opportunities to boost the domestic market. “Alberta could actually supply all of Canada’s honey demand, so Canada can supply itself with honey. We’re currently seeing honey imports, but some of those imports are adulterated honey, so they’re not 100 per cent pure honey, and that’s what’s coming up and winding up on consumer shelves.”
According to a 2019 Canadian Food Inspection Agency report , 21.7 per cent of imported honey samples were adulterated — often diluted with syrups, such as corn or rice. Gregory highlights the need for better testing at the border and, if honey is identified as fraudulent, that it be destroyed.
“Overall, we just want to encourage consumers to really buy Canadian honey,” says Engelbart McKenzie. “We also definitely are supporting the idea that we get these tariffs removed and that we get back into a regular flow of goods across the border.”
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