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2016 Census of Agriculture: A portrait of a 21st Century agricultural operation

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Released: 2017-05-17

Number of farm operators: Census of Agriculture — Canada

271,935

2016

-7.5% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0237.
Number of male operators: Census of Agriculture — Canada

193,965

2016

-9.0% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Number of female operators: Census of Agriculture — Canada

77,970

2016

-3.3% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Work on the farm (more than 40 hours): Census of Agriculture — Canada

102,070

2016

-13.5% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0241.
Number of farm operators: Census of Agriculture — N.L.

500

2016

-24.8% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0237.
Number of male operators: Census of Agriculture — N.L.

385

2016

-24.5% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Number of female operators: Census of Agriculture — N.L.

115

2016

-25.8% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Work on the farm (more than 40 hours): Census of Agriculture — N.L.

220

2016

-24.1% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0241.
Number of farm operators: Census of Agriculture — P.E.I.

1,810

2016

-11.5% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0237.
Number of male operators: Census of Agriculture — P.E.I.

1,480

2016

-12.9% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Number of female operators: Census of Agriculture — P.E.I.

1,480

2016

-12.9% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Work on the farm (more than 40 hours): Census of Agriculture — P.E.I.

855

2016

-11.9% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0241.
Number of farm operators: Census of Agriculture — N.S.

4,630

2016

-11.4% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0237.
Number of male operators: Census of Agriculture — N.S.

3,365

2016

-12.9% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Number of female operators: Census of Agriculture — N.S.

1,265

2016

-6.6% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Work on the farm (more than 40 hours): Census of Agriculture — N.S.

1,385

2016

-15.8% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0241.
Number of farm operators: Census of Agriculture — N.B.

3,005

2016

-13.4% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0237.
Number of male operators: Census of Agriculture — N.B.

2,335

2016

-14.8% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Number of female operators: Census of Agriculture — N.B.

665

2016

-8.9% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Work on the farm (more than 40 hours): Census of Agriculture — N.B.

1,110

2016

-14.3% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0241.
Number of farm operators: Census of Agriculture — Que.

41,995

2016

-4.4% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0237.
Number of male operators: Census of Agriculture — Que.

31,050

2016

-4.6% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Number of female operators: Census of Agriculture — Que.

10,945

2016

-3.6% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Work on the farm (more than 40 hours): Census of Agriculture — Que.

18,650

2016

-13.3% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0241.
Number of farm operators: Census of Agriculture — Ont.

70,470

2016

-5.8% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0237.
Number of male operators: Census of Agriculture — Ont.

49,565

2016

-7.5% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Number of female operators: Census of Agriculture — Ont.

20,905

2016

-1.6% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Work on the farm (more than 40 hours): Census of Agriculture — Ont.

24,005

2016

-13.2% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0241.
Number of farm operators: Census of Agriculture — Man.

20,140

2016

-9.7% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0237.
Number of male operators: Census of Agriculture — Man.

15,355

2016

-9.9% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Number of female operators: Census of Agriculture — Man.

4,785

2016

-9.2% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Work on the farm (more than 40 hours): Census of Agriculture — Man.

8,955

2016

-13.9% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0241.
Number of farm operators: Census of Agriculture — Sask.

45,350

2016

-8.3% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0237.
Number of male operators: Census of Agriculture — Sask.

34,070

2016

-10.7% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Number of female operators: Census of Agriculture — Sask.

11,275

2016

-0.4% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Work on the farm (more than 40 hours): Census of Agriculture — Sask.

20,115

2016

-12.8% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0241.
Number of farm operators: Census of Agriculture — Alta.

57,605

2016

-7.2% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0237.
Number of male operators: Census of Agriculture — Alta.

39,845

2016

-9.6% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Number of female operators: Census of Agriculture — Alta.

17,760

2016

-1.2% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Work on the farm (more than 40 hours): Census of Agriculture — Alta.

20,325

2016

-13.4% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0241.
Number of farm operators: Census of Agriculture — B.C.

26,430

2016

-11.7% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0237.
Number of male operators: Census of Agriculture — B.C.

16,515

2016

-13.1% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Number of female operators: Census of Agriculture — B.C.

9,925

2016

-9.1% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0238.
Work on the farm (more than 40 hours): Census of Agriculture — B.C.

6,450

2016

-16.2% decrease

(period-to-period change)

Source(s): CANSIM table 004-0241.

While the modern operator may still live on his or her agricultural operation, farming has evolved into an innovative career choice requiring knowledge of business management and technology, as well as the agricultural sciences.

Driven by competition and aided by technology, the number of Canadian agricultural operations is decreasing and the agricultural operations that remain are larger and more capital intensive.

The 2016 Census of Agriculture recorded 193,492 agricultural operations, down 5.9% from 2011, and 271,935 farm operators, a decline of 7.5%.

While there are fewer agricultural operations and farm operators, agricultural operations are getting larger and using more of Canada's available agricultural land to grow crops. The area of cropland increased by 6.9% from 2011 to 93.4 million acres in 2016.

The analytical document "A portrait of a 21st Century agricultural operation" is now available. This is the first article from an analytical series based on 2016 Census of Agriculture data.

Based on the data from the 2016 Census of Agriculture, the infographic "A Portrait of Canadian Farms" (Catalogue number11-627-M) gives a visual overview of farm and farm operator characteristics in Canada.

The national snapshot 2016 Census of Agriculture, as well as provincial highlights, are now available online.

Products

The article "A portrait of a 21st Century agricultural operation," which is part of Farm and Farm Operator Data (Catalogue number95-640-X), is now available. For a complete list of our products, visit 2016 Census of Agriculture. You can also consult the CANSIM tables 004-0200 to 004-0246.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).

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