The Owl team can think of only a few things that bring as much joy to a child as dressing up, shouting trick or treat and being given free candy. So today, we are taking a break from the gloomy economic news that has dominated 2020 and, instead, are taking a look at the candy* sector.

Last year, Canada’s sugar and confectionery product manufacturing sector had sales of almost $4 billion. That’s only 0.6 per cent of all manufacturing sales, but it still works out to a lot of delicious candy.

Chocolate products accounted for about 46 per cent of all candy production in Canada last year.

Unfortunately, data are not available for every province due to confidentiality requirements, but about 85 per cent of Canada’s candy manufacturing takes place in Ontario and Quebec.

While it might seem bananas to let candy leave our borders instead of eating it ourselves, it does make sense to share it with the rest of the world. In keeping with this, Canada exported about $3.3 billion worth of sugar and confectionery products in 2019.

Thankfully, we also imported lots of candy with shipments to Canada from other countries coming in at $3.1 billion last year.

In closing, keep in mind that Alberta’s official bird—the great horned owl—is not just the inspiration for the name of ATB’s daily economic comment, but also a fantastic Halloween costume idea.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

*Due to confidentiality requirements, the manufacturing information available from Statistics Canada does not allow us to calculate the amount of “candy” production that is raw or refined sugar but an estimate from the Canadian Sugar Institute suggests it is about 25 per cent.