Canola oil is low in cholesterol and an excellent choice for increasingly health-conscious consumers. Canola seed is transported to crushing plants in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan, where it is processed. Canola oil is shipped, in bulk, from there to domestic and foreign markets, or packaged at the plant for distribution to consumers. A typical processing plant has a daily crushing capacity of 6.5 thousand tonnes. The crushing plant at Nipawin, Saskatchewan, has an annual capacity of 104,000 tonnes.
Japan is Canada's main export market for canola seed.
Other importers of smaller quantities are the United States, Western Europe, Belgium and Korea. About two-thirds of the canola meal produced goes to the U.S.A. Japan and Norway are also major importers of meal. Canola is fifth in the world trade in agricultural crops, after rice, wheat, maize and cotton. Canola is Canada's third most important grain export, after wheat and barley. Page last modified Friday, January 29, 1999.