Agricultural officials and industry representatives from Canada, the United States and Mexico are meeting in Calgary this week as Alberta hosts the 35th Tri-National Agricultural Accord.

The conference runs from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 at Hotel Arts Downtown. It brings together senior state and provincial agriculture officials, industry organizations, Indigenous groups and other invited participants.

The accord is not open to the general public and registration has closed.

The program includes bilateral meetings between countries, three-country sessions, industry meetings and separate country discussions. Organizers identify agricultural trade, market challenges and rural development as continuing subjects for the annual gathering.

Participants are also scheduled to tour Alberta agriculture and food businesses on Monday. The three tour options focus on agricultural technology, supply chains and the province’s beverage sector.

The event began in 1992 and has become a regular meeting place for subnational agriculture officials from the three countries.

Alberta’s role as host places the province’s export-oriented farm and food economy at the centre of the discussions.

The provincial government reports Alberta exported $17.1 billion in agricultural and agri-food products in 2025. That represented 18.4 per cent of Canada’s $93.1 billion total and made Alberta the country’s third-largest provincial agri-food exporter.

About 70,900 Albertans worked in primary agriculture and food and beverage manufacturing in 2025, according to figures published for the conference.

The province also has more than 41,000 farms and Canada’s largest cattle herd. Alberta had an estimated 4.85 million cattle and calves on Jan. 1, 2026, or 43.6 per cent of the national inventory.

Those figures help explain why market access and cross-border rules matter to rural Alberta. Grain, cattle, processed food, farm equipment and transportation businesses depend on the movement of goods and investment across North America.

The provincial government says the United States was the destination for more than $152 billion in Alberta exports in 2025, representing 85.4 per cent of the provincial total. Energy accounted for about $125 billion of that amount.

Alberta exported $992 million in commodities to Mexico in 2025 and imported $2.3 billion from the country.

The Calgary meetings put Alberta’s agricultural priorities before both continental trading partners as North American trade relationships continue to evolve.