By Caroline Côté
Released: April 28, 2025
The Québec Apple Marketing Survey was conducted by the Institut de la statistique du Québec for the 2023 harvest. The data from this survey provide an overview of Québec apple producers with at least 50 trees.
Orchard area and number of apple trees
For the 2023 harvest, the orchard area remained stable at 4,788 hectares (ha). The number of apple trees increased to 3,576,390.
Harvest volume and marketing value
In 2023, the apple harvest totalled 98,693 tonnes (t). Nearly 98.8% of these apples were put on the market, for a value of $76.5 million.
The largest quantities of apples were harvested in the apple-growing regions of Montérégie-Est and Centre-du-Québec, which accounted for 39.7% of apples produced (39,218 t), and Montréal-Laval-Laurentides-Outaouais, which accounted for 35.1% (34,625 t).
In 2023, the Montréal-Laval-Laurentides-Outaouais region made up the largest share of the market value with 36.9% ($28.2 million). The region of Montérégie-Est and Centre-du-Québec ranked second with 34.9% ($26.7 million).
Apple sales to the fresh and processing markets
In total, 71.1% (64,260.9 t) of apples were sold to the fresh market, meaning apples sold on retail market shelves. They accounted for 88.8% ($61.3 million) of the industry’s total shipment value.
The Montérégie-Est et Centre-du-Québec region sold the most fresh apples in terms of both volume and value, making up 40.7% (26,155.6 t) and 36.0% ($22.1 million) of the total for the fresh market.
A total of 28.9% (26,062.6 t) of apples were sold to the processing market. They accounted for 13.2% ($9.3 million) of the industry’s total shipment value.
Regarding the total processing market value, the Montréal-Laval-Laurentides-Outaouais region made up the largest share of sales in terms of both volume and value, with 48.2% (12,563.8 t) and 51.6% ($4.8 million).
Apple categories
Québec’s orchards have something for everyone. Apple varieties fall within two categories: early and late apples. Late varieties of apples can be stored much longer than early apples, which is why late apples are the most harvested in Québec.
In 2023, late apples accounted for 97.6% (96,346 t) of all apples harvested, while early apples represented only 2.4% of the total harvest (2,346.5 t).
Methodological information and data source
Due to changes to the survey questionnaire, caution must be exercised when comparing the results shown in the tables on production, marketing, sales value, and average selling price of apples with those from previous years.
