A Portrait of Canadian Farms

Release date: May 17, 2017
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© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2017

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Catalogue no. 11-627-M

Frequency: Occasional

Ottawa

Infographic: A Portrait of Canadian Farms
Description: A Portrait of Canadian Farms

In 2016, there were 271,935 farm operators and 193,492 farms with a total area of 158.7 million acres across Canada.

Average farm area in acres, by province
Province Average farm area in acres
British Columbia 365 acres
Alberta 1,237 acres
Saskatchewan 1,784 acres
Manitoba 1,192 acres
Ontario 249 acres
Quebec 280 acres
New Brunswick 370 acres
Nova Scotia 263 acres
Prince Edward Island 425 acres
Newfoundland and Labrador 174 acres

Most common farm types

  • Oilseed and grain 32.9%
  • Cattle ranching and farming 24.1%

Portrait of farm operators

  • Average age was 55.0 years old.
  • 9.1% were under 35 years of age.
  • For every 5 males, there were 2 female farm operators.
  • 51.7% worked 30 hours or more per week on the farm in 2015.
  • 44.4% worked off the farm in 2015.
Number of farms by province
Province Number of farms
(thousands)
British Columbia 17.5
Alberta 40.6
Saskatchewan 34.5
Manitoba 14.8
Ontario 49.6
Quebec 28.9
New Brunswick 2.3
Nova Scotia 3.5
Prince Edward Island 1.4
Newfoundland and Labrador 0.4

Farms are businesses

  • 1 in 4 farms were incorporated in 2016.

Source: Census of Agriculture, 2016.

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