The purpose of this paper is to discuss how consumers in Canada, like those in the United States and Europe, have changed over the last ten years and the impact this is having on how agricultural commodities are being produced, transformed, distributed and traded. It will also be important to discuss how governments in Canada and elsewhere have reacted and how policies are being adopted to help the agriculture and agri-food sector adjust to the new realities of a more demanding and sophisticated consumer, at home and abroad.