Canada Province Food Guides

By
Molly Watson
Molly Watson
An award-winning food writer and cookbook author, Molly Watson has created more than 1,000 recipes focused on local, seasonal ingredients.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 07/22/21
Poutine

Fudio / Getty Images 

These guides to local foods by province are a great way to get started eating local foods, no matter where in Canada you find yourself. From Maritime lobster to Quebec cheeses, from Ontario ice wine to Manitoba wild rice, from Alberta bison to Saskatchewan Saskatoon berries, from British Columbia salmon to poutine and much, much more.

Featured Video
  • 01 of 10

    Alberta

    Bison burger

    Manjurul Haque / EyeEm / Getty Images

    Alberta is justly famous for its fine beef, but did you know there are more and more ranchers raising the giant beasts that are native to the prairie, bison?

  • 02 of 10

    British Columbia

    Spot Prawns

    The Spruce / Molly Watson

    Everyone knows about salmon and an ever-growing vinicultural industry. But there is more to the cuisine of the province that inspired the concept of the "100-mile diet," including delicious spot prawns and a growing cultivated oyster and shellfish industry, as well as a slew of cranberry bogs.

  • 03 of 10

    Manitoba

    Wild Rice

    The Spruce / Molly Watson

    Lake fish, wild berries, and wild rice. Plus, of course, plenty more, despite a challengingly short growing season.

  • 04 of 10

    New Brunswick

    Fiddlehead Ferns

    The Spruce / Molly Watson

    Fresh seafood, especially Beausoleil oysters, and wild foraged foods, like the fiddlehead ferns pictured here, are just a few of the culinary highlights in this Maritime province.

    Continue to 5 of 10 below.
  • 05 of 10

    Newfoundland and Labrador

    Blue/Purple Potatoes

    Laszlo Selly / Getty Images

    Great schools of cod may have once defined the local diet in Newfoundland, but the province has a whole range of foodstuffs that make regional eating unique, including its famous blue potatoes, seafood, game, wild berries, and, of course, seal flipper pie.

  • 06 of 10

    Nova Scotia

    Chanterelle Mushrooms

    Natasha Breen / Getty Images

    Hands down the best lobster I've ever had has been in Nova Scotia. The local oatcakes are pretty darn good too. And then there's the Cape Breton oysters and the wild chanterelle mushrooms.

  • 07 of 10

    Ontario

    Apples

    ​ Merethe Svarstad Eeg / EyeEm / Getty Images

    Plenty of wild berries and orchard fruits are famously on hand, of course, but craft breweries and award-winning ice wine also play a role in bringing fabulous local flavor to Ontario.

  • 08 of 10

    Prince Edward Island

    Malpeque oysters

    Jun Zhang / Getty Images

    It may be the smallest province, but it still has plenty of local foods on offer. PEI's potatoes are famously creamy and delicious, and so too are the rope-grown mussels, Malpeque oysters, and other briny delights its surrounding seas produce.

    Continue to 9 of 10 below.
  • 09 of 10

    Quebec

    Maple syrup

    LauriPatterson / Getty Images

    Quebec is the province with the longest traditional reputation for fine eating. French heritage, access to sea and forest, and plenty of small dairies turning out amazing artisan and farmstead cheeses all play their role. As do foie gras producers, ample apple orchards and berry groves, and a history of hearty cooking. (The scads of sugar bushes making this province the world's largest producer of maple syrup aren't too shabby either.)

  • 10 of 10

    Saskatchewan

    Saskatoon berries

    fortton / Getty Images

    This prairie province may not be particularly well-known for its foodstuffs, but it is justly known for the Saskatoon berry.