Ontario could grow more, import less: study

More than half of Ontario’s $20 billion in imported food could be produced in the province and Western Ontario is the best place for that to happen.

That’s a conclusion of a McMaster University study called Dollars & Sense: Opportunities to Strengthen Southern Ontario’s Food System.

As an example, the study says if the top 10 fruit and vegetable imports were reduced by 10 per cent and grown in Ontario, that would create 3,400 full-time jobs and increase Ontario’s gross domestic product by $242.5 million.