Agriculture minister says first exports of canola seed and beef soon going to China

China is moving quickly to import Canadian canola and beef after Ottawa struck a deal with Beijing to reduce tariffs, Federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald said Tuesday. 

MacDonald told reporters in Ottawa a Chinese importer has ordered 60,000 metric tonnes of canola seed, and he’s aware of a company shipping its first load of Canadian beef to China next week.

It’s expected be the first time China has purchased Canadian canola seed and beef since it imposed measures to block the products.

“That’s how quickly this whole process has taken place,” MacDonald said. “When the door opened, it opened.”

MacDonald made the comments while announcing Ottawa is beginning a round of consultations on a new agreement that will provide funding and programming to the agriculture sector in 2028 and beyond.

News of the planned shipments also come as Canada recalibrates its trading relationship with China.

On Monday, China lifted its ban on Canadian beef imports after an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy — known as BSE or mad cow disease — was found on an Alberta farm in 2021. BSE is a fatal brain disease in cattle and atypical strains pose no health risks to humans.

And last week, Beijing reduced tariffs on Canadian canola seed and at least temporarily removed levies on canola meal, lobsters, crabs and peas. In exchange, Ottawa made concessions on Chinese electric vehicle duties.

MacDonald said China’s lifting of the beef ban, along with reducing or removing agriculture tariffs, helps Canada access more markets to grow its economy.

Canada’s farmers and food processors contribute $150 billion, or 7 per cent, to the country’s GDP each year, he added.

The Canadian Cattle Association welcomed the news of access to China being restored.

“We are pleased to see renewed access into China, one of the largest export markets for beef. Every market matters to Canadian beef farmers and ranchers; it supports our industry’s resilience and growth,” Tyler Fulton, the association’s president, said in a statement. 

MacDonald said there’s more work to do on Canadian pork, which continues to face Chinese tariffs.

“We need to further identify the situation with China … to ensure that we’re meeting their demands and they’re meeting our demands,” he said.

On the canola seed shipment, MacDonald didn’t say when it will be exported, though tariffs on the crop are to be reduced on March 1.

Farmers have been patient, he added. “The consultation and the professionalism that they showed us as government officials has been second to none,” MacDonald said. 

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, whose province grows more than half of the country’s canola, repeated his thanks to Prime Minister Mark Carney for getting the deal done. 

Moe told reporters Tuesday in Saskatoon the agreement is “huge” for the Saskatchewan and Canadian economies. “This agreement with China is one of the strongest agreements that I have seen in my elected time,” he said.

“It’s significant for a rancher as it is for a canola farmer.” 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been critical of the deal, arguing it further threatens his province’s auto sector, which is already squeezed by tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump. The agreement allows up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into Canada at a vastly reduced tariff rate of 6.1 per cent.

Moe said the figure represents three per cent of Canada’s electric vehicle market.

“To say that this is favouring one province over another, that is just simply not a true statement,” Moe said. “This is a decision that is in the best interest of Canada.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2026.

— with files from Catherine Morrison in Ottawa