As Canada’s largest wine region, Niagara has the potential to develop a “supercluster” of industries that revolve around the wine sector – if given the proper supports to grow.

The wine industry in Niagara supports and nurtures many others: arts and culture, food and hospitality, tourism, farming, education, manufacturing, construction, and others. It has huge potential for growth, with the right economic incentives and policies, and could become a region to economically rival Napa Valley, Bordeaux, Champagne, or Tuscany.

Only 0.53% of the world’s arable land is used for vineyards, which can only succeed in very specific areas. It’s for this reason that Niagara is responsible for 80% of Canada’s grape and wine production.

While Niagara’s wine economy already contributes over $1 billion in GDP, it’s worth noting that Napa Valley drives thirteen times as much local economic activity and fifty times as much nationally, supporting 300,000 American jobs, indicating the extent of the Niagara wine cluster’s potential growth. Locally, Napa’s wine industry supports more jobs than all of Niagara’s tourism sector put together.

The GNCC supports and has played a pivotal role in advocating for the Niagara wine supercluster, including lobbying missions and involvement in the creation and promotion of the “Uncork Ontario” initiative. We continue to support a range of policies on taxation, economic development, and investment to grow the supercluster.

2023-ongoing