Thematic Series on Ethnicity, Language and Immigration
Portrait of French-language workers in Atlantic Canada’s agriculture and agri-food industries, 2011

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by Émilie Lavoie

Release date: July 12, 2017

Acknowledgments

This project was carried out as part of a collaboration between Statistics Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. The author wishes to thank Jacinthe Robichaud and her team at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for their helpful suggestions and comments.

This project was made possible thanks to the contribution of Jean-Pierre Corbeil, Chief for the Centre for Ethnocultural, Language and Immigration Statistics at Statistics Canada. Thanks also go to Jean-François Lepage for his advice. The author would like to thank them warmly for their involvement and their availability throughout this project.

Finally, the author thanks Deniz Do, Alejandro Paez Silva and Julie Bertrand for their collaboration in finalizing the report.

Atlantic Canada’s agriculture industry and the French-language minority

In 2011, there were 23,700 workers aged 15 and over in the Atlantic Canadian agricultural sector,^Note 1 concentrated mainly in Nova Scotia (8,610 workers) and New Brunswick (8,455 workers).^Note 2 In the four Atlantic provinces, there were 2,505 French-language agricultural workers, including 2,300 in New Brunswick alone. As such, this province is home to approximately 92% of the French-language workers in all the Atlantic provinces. In addition, in 2011, just over one in four (27.2%) agricultural workers in New Brunswick was a French-language worker.

The Atlantic provinces comprise 15 agricultural regions. Map 2 shows these regions, along with the geographical distribution of the French-language minority within these regions. As in Table 1, the French-language minority was mainly concentrated in three agricultural regions in New Brunswick: Agricultural Region 1, which accounts for 40.7% (935 workers) of the province’s French-language agricultural workers; Agricultural Region 3, which accounts for 14.6% (335 workers) of the province’s French-language agricultural workers; and Agricultural Region 4, which accounts for 42.4% (975 workers) of the province’s French-language agricultural workers. In addition, one in four agricultural workers in New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 1, 3 in 10 in Agricultural Region 3, and three in four in Agricultural Region 4 were French-language workers. Finally, Map 1 shows that the majority of French-language agricultural workers in Atlantic Canadian agricultural regions can be found in relatively few municipalities (17 municipalities with an average or strong concentration of official-language minority populations and agricultural workers^Note 3).

Atlantic Canada’s agri-food industry and the French-language minority

In 2011, there were 164,660 workers aged 15 and over in the Atlantic Canadian agri-food sector,^Note 4 concentrated mainly in Nova Scotia (62,195 workers) and New Brunswick (51,805 workers). In the four Atlantic provinces, there were 19,705 French-language agri-food workers, including 17,235 in New Brunswick alone. As such, this province is home to approximately 87% of the French-language workers in all the Atlantic provinces. In addition, in 2011, one in three (33.3%) workers in New Brunswick’s agri-food sector was French-language workers. There were also French-language workers in the agri-food sector in Nova Scotia (2,135 workers) and Prince Edward Island (245 workers).

Map 4 shows the 15 agricultural regions in Atlantic Canada and the geographical distribution of the French-language minority within these regions. As in Table 2, it can be seen that French-language workers in the agri-food sector were mainly concentrated in five agricultural regions: Agricultural Regions 1, 3, and 4 in New Brunswick and Agricultural Regions 1 and 5 in Nova Scotia. A significant proportion of the agri-food workers in these regions were francophone. Finally, Map 3 reveals that the majority of French-language agri-food workers in Atlantic Canada’s agricultural regions can be found in relatively few municipalities (12 municipalities with a strong presence and 83 municipalities with an average presence of official-language minority populations and agricultural workers^Note 5).

Part 1: Portrait of Atlantic Canada’s agricultural industry and its French-language workers

Table 1 and Maps 1 and 2 clearly illustrate that French-language agricultural workers in Atlantic Canada were concentrated in three of New Brunswick’s agricultural regions. The following portraits will therefore deal with Regions 1, 3, and 4 in New Brunswick.

Socioeconomic portrait of French-language workers in Atlantic Canada’s agricultural industry

• French-language agricultural workers in Regions 1 and 4 in New Brunswick were generally older than their English-language colleagues. However, in 2011, there was a higher proportion of English-language workers aged 65 and over in New Brunswick’s Region 1 than French-language workers.
• French-language workers in New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 3 were younger than their English-language colleagues. In this region, more than 3 in 10 English-language workers were aged 65 and over, whereas the proportion was significantly lower among French-language workers (20.9%).

• Regardless of the region or language, male workers outnumbered female workers in the agricultural sector in 2011.
• Compared with English-language workers, there were fewer men among French-language agricultural workers.
• In 2011, the majority of New Brunswick’s agricultural workers, both English-language and French-language workers, were married.
• As a general rule, French-language workers were less likely to be married or single than their English-language colleagues.
• In 2011, French-language workers were more likely to be in a common-law relationship than their English-language colleagues.

• In 2011, French-language agricultural workers were more likely than their English-language colleagues to have no certificate, diploma or degree. Between 35% and 45% of French-language workers in New Brunswick had no certificate, diploma or degree.
• Compared with English-language agricultural workers, French-language workers were less likely to have a high school diploma,^Note 6 a college degree or certificate, ^{Note 7Note 8} or a bachelor’s degree. ^{Note 9Note 10}

• More than 8 in 10 agricultural workers in New Brunswick, both English-language and French-language workers, were born in that province.
• In 2011, the vast majority (above 90%) of French-language agricultural workers in New Brunswick were Catholic. The Catholic religion was also much more common among French-language workers than English-language workers.
• As a general rule, French-language workers were less likely to adhere to the following religions: Anglican,^Note 11 other Christian, ^{Note 12Note 13} and the United Church.
• The rate of affiliation to no religion was very low to nil among French-language agricultural workers.

• In 2011, the majority of French-language agricultural workers were employees, with proportions ranging from 73.1% (New Brunswick Agricultural Region 3) to 86.1% (Agricultural Region 1). Compared with English-language workers, a higher proportion of French-language workers were employees.
• Compared with English-language workers, fewer French-language agricultural workers declared being unpaid family workers or self-employed workers in an unincorporated business, while more declared being self-employed in incorporated businesses.

Linguistic portrait of French-language workers in Atlantic Canada’s agriculture industry

• In 2011, knowledge of both English and French was widespread among French-language agricultural workers. Specifically, all French-language workers in New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 3 knew both languages, as well as more than 6 in 10 French-language workers in Agricultural Regions 1 and 4. In contrast, no more than one in four English-language workers knew both English and French in New Brunswick (Region 4).
• In 2011, the majority of French-language agricultural workers spoke only French at home, which means more than two out of three French-language workers in New Brunswick. By comparison, English-language agricultural workers largely spoke English at home.
• Between 20% and 30% of French-language agricultural workers spoke both French and English at home, while the rate of use of both languages among English-language workers was low or very low.
• In 2011, more than half of the French-language agricultural workers in New Brunswick’s Agricultural Regions 1 and 4 spoke only French at work (65.2% and 59.5% respectively). By comparison, more than 90% of English-language workers spoke only English at work in the province’s Agricultural Regions 1 and 3.
• In New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 3, one out of every two French-language workers spoke both French and English at work. In Region 4, 3 out of 10 French-language workers and close to one English-language worker in five spoke both languages at work.

Agricultural portrait of four regions in Atlantic Canada

Unlike the previous sections, this agricultural portrait focuses on the characteristics of farms and farm operators—rather than on agricultural workers^Note 14—in New Brunswick’s three agricultural regions.

• In 2011, the majority of farms in New Brunswick’s three agricultural regions were sole proprietorships.
• There were few differences in the distribution of the legal status of farms across agricultural regions and New Brunswick.

• Compared with all farms in New Brunswick, the total area of farms in Agricultural Region 1 was proportionally larger. In this region, there were fewer farms of less than 130 acres.
• Contrary to Agricultural Region 1, the total area of farms in New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 4 was smaller, compared with all farms in the province.
• In most farms and agricultural regions in New Brunswick, operators declared that they owned their land, in proportions ranging from 89.6% in Agricultural Region 4 to 97.0% in Agricultural Region 3. Compared with all farms in the province, there were more farms on owned land in Agricultural Region 3 and fewer in Agricultural Region 4.
• In Agricultural Region 1, there were more farms on land rented from others or operated by others. Conversely, there were fewer farms in Agricultural Region 4 on land rented from others or operated by others. Finally, in Agricultural Region 4, there were also more farms on land rented from the government.

• In 2011, about half the farms in New Brunswick and its agricultural regions used computers for farm operations.
• Compared with all farms in New Brunswick, farms in Agricultural Region 4 were less likely to use computers or the Internet for farm operations. Similarly, fewer farms in this region had high-speed Internet access.
• Contrary to Agricultural Region 4, farms in Agricultural Region 1 were more likely to use computers or the Internet for farm operations. There were also more farms with high-speed Internet access.

• In New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 1, compared with the rest of the province, the value of farm capital was on average higher (fewer farms valued at less than $500,000 and more farms valued at $1,500,000 and up), as was total gross farm revenue.
• Contrary to farms in Agricultural Region 1, the average value of farm capital in New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 4 was lower than for farms across the province. As such, there were more farms in this region valued at $200,000 and below and fewer farms of higher value.

• For farm operators in New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 4, the three indicators in Table 12 varied significantly compared with all farm operators in the province. Specifically, there were more farm operators in Agricultural Region 4, compared with all farm operators in New Brunswick, who were not living on the farm, who declared working less than 20 hours per week on average on the farm, or working more than 40 hours per week on average in a paid non-agricultural job.
• New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 1 is the opposite of Region 4, with a higher proportion of farm operators declaring having worked 40 hours or more per week on the farm, and fewer declaring having worked more than 30 hours per week on average in a paid non-agricultural job, compared with all farm operators across New Brunswick.
• In addition, farm operators in Agricultural Region 3 were more likely than all farm operators in New Brunswick to live on the farm.

• Compared with all New Brunswick farms, the proportion of cattle farms (particularly beef cattle farms, including feedlots) and other animal production activities in Agricultural Region 4 was lower. Conversely, Agricultural Region 3 had a higher proportion of cattle farms.
• There were more farms producing vegetables and melons (especially potato crops) and fewer farms producing fruit and tree-nuts in New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 1, compared with the province as a whole.
• Contrary to Agricultural Region 1, there were fewer farms producing vegetables and melons and more farms producing fruit and tree-nuts in New Brunswick’s Agricultural Regions 3 and 4, compared with the province as a whole.
• Finally, there was a lower proportion of farms in Agricultural Region 4 producing hay and a higher proportion producing maple syrup and other maple products, compared with all the farms in New Brunswick.

Part 2: Socioeconomic and linguistic portraits of workers in New Brunswick’s agri-food industry

As shown in Table 3 and Maps 3 and 4, agri-food workers were concentrated in the Atlantic’s six agricultural regions. This section focusses solely on official language minority workers in New Brunswick’s agri-food sector; the next section (Part 3 of this document) will focus on French-language workers in the agricultural regions of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

Socioeconomic portrait of French-language workers in New Brunswick’s agri-food industry

• As a general rule, French-language workers in New Brunswick’s agri-food sector are older than their English-language colleagues. Compared with English-language workers in this sector, the proportion of French-language workers aged 15 to 29 was lower and that of French-language workers aged 50 to 64 was higher.

• In 2011, there were more women than men working in the New Brunswick agri-food sector, regardless of the linguistic grouping. Proportions of French-language female workers range from 54.3% in Agricultural Region 3 to 60.7% in Agricultural Region 4.
• In New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 1, there were more French-language women working in the agri-food sector than English-language women.
• Compared with English-language workers, the proportion of French-language workers who were married or living in a common-law relationship in New Brunswick’s Agricultural Regions 3 and 4 was higher.
• Just like the other agricultural regions in the province, French-language workers in Agricultural Region 1 were more likely than English-language workers to be in a common-law relationship. However, there were more married French-language workers in this region and fewer single workers.

• In all three of New Brunswick’s agricultural regions, French-language workers were more likely than English-language workers to have no certificate, diploma or degree.
• In 2011, between 40% and 60% of New Brunswick’s agricultural workers, whether francophone or not, held a high school diploma.^Note 15
• The highest level of education attained by New Brunswick’s French-language workers was typically lower than that of their English-language colleagues. Therefore, fewer French-language workers had at least a high school diploma.^Note 16

• The majority of French-language workers in New Brunswick’s agri-food sector were born in the province. In addition, they outnumbered their English-language colleagues for this criterion. More than 85% of French-language workers were born in New Brunswick, compared with between 66.1% and 81.5% of English-language workers.
• Given that the majority of French-language workers were born in their province of residence, the proportion of whom who were born in another province or country was lower than the proportion of English-language workers.
• In 2011, there were many more French-language workers than English-language workers who were Catholic. In fact, the vast majority of French-language workers in New Brunswick’s agri-food sector were Catholic.
• Contrary to English-language workers, there were few, if any, French-language workers who adhered to the following religions: Anglican, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, United Church, and other Christian.^Note 17 In addition, French-language workers were less likely than their English-language colleagues to have declared having no religious affiliation.

• In 2011, more than 90% of workers, both English-language and French-language workers, in New Brunswick’s agri-food sector were employees.^Note 18
• There were more French-language workers in the food, beverage and tobacco product manufacturing sectors than English-language workers.
• However, there were fewer French-language workers in New Brunswick’s food retail and wholesale sector and food services sector than English-language workers.

Linguistic portrait of French-language workers in New Brunswick’s agri-food industry

Knowledge of official languages

• Bilingualism was widespread among New Brunswick’s French-language workers in 2011. The majority of these workers knew both French and English, in proportions ranging from 53.3% in Agricultural Region 4, to 75.8% in Region 1 and 96.2% in Region 3. By comparison, between 16.7% (Agricultural Region 1) and 27.3% (Agricultural Region 4) of English-language workers knew both languages in 2011.
• There was a very low incidence (less than 4%) of workers who spoke only French in New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 3. However, in Agricultural Region 1, the proportion rose to nearly one in four French-language workers, and, in Agricultural Region 4, the proportion of unilingual French workers bordered on 50%.

Languages spoken at home

• In 2011, the majority of French-language workers in New Brunswick’s agri-food sector spoke only French at home, in proportions ranging from 57.0% in Agricultural Region 3, to 67.6% in Region 1 and 83.1% in Region 4.
• A significant proportion of French-language agri-food workers (15% to 35%) in New Brunswick’s agricultural regions spoke both French and English at home in 2011.

Languages used at work

• French as the only language spoken at work is more widespread among French-language workers in New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 4 than among French-language workers in the province’s other agricultural regions. In this region, more than one French-language worker in two spoke French at work, compared with 37.0% in Region 1 and 19.2% in Region 3.
• In New Brunswick’s Agricultural Region 3, nearly 6 in 10 French-language workers spoke both French and English at work, compared with nearly half the French-language workers in the province’s Agricultural Region 1.

Part 3: Socioeconomic and linguistic portraits of workers in Atlantic Canada’s agri-food industry outside New Brunswick

Socioeconomic portrait of French-language workers in Atlantic Canada’s agri-food industry outside New Brunswick

• French-language workers in Nova Scotia’s and Prince Edward Island’s agri-food sectors were generally older than their English-language counterparts. Compared with English-language workers in the sector, the proportion of French-language workers aged 15 to 29 years was lower, while the proportion of those aged 50 to 64 was higher.
• In Prince Edward Island’s Agricultural Region 3, more than one French-language worker in two was aged between 50 and 64 years in 2011.

• In Nova Scotia’s agricultural regions, there was a higher proportion of men among the agri-food sector’s French-language workforce than among the English-language workforce. In both these regions, more than one French-language worker in two was male, while the proportion of English-language male workers was 40%.
• In Prince Edward Island’s Agricultural Region 3, nearly 6 in 10 French-language workers were female, a higher proportion than for their English-language counterparts (51.4%).
• In Nova Scotia’s Agricultural Region 5 and Prince Edward Island’s Agricultural Region 3, French-language workers were less likely than English-language workers to be single. There were also fewer French-language workers living in a common-law relationship than English-language workers. Conversely, French-language workers in Nova Scotia’s Agricultural Region 5 were more likely to be married, and those in Prince Edward Island’s Agricultural Region 3 were more likely to be separated, divorced, or widowed.

• In Nova Scotia’s Agricultural Region 5 and Prince Edward Island’s Agricultural Region 3, there were more French-language workers than English-language workers with no certificate, diploma or degree. Similarly, there were fewer French-language workers in these regions with at least a high school diploma. There was one exception, however: there were more French-language workers in Nova Scotia’s Agricultural Region 5 with a college certificate or diploma^Note 19 than English-language workers in this region.
• There were fewer French-language workers in Nova Scotia’s Agricultural Region 1 with no certificate, diploma or degree, and more workers with a college certificate or diploma^Note 20 or a bachelor’s degree.^Note 21

• The majority of French-language workers in Atlantic Canada’s agri-food sector outside New Brunswick were born in their province of residence. In addition, they outnumbered English-language workers for this criterion.
• Given that the majority of French-language workers were born in their province of residence, there were fewer who were born in another province or country compared with English-language workers.
• In 2011, there were significantly more French-language workers than English-language workers who were Catholic. In fact, the vast majority of French-language workers in the agri-food sector were Catholic.
• There were few, if any, French-language workers who adhered to the following religions: Anglican, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, United Church, and other Christian.^Note 22 However, this was the case for English-language workers. In addition, fewer French-language workers declared having no religious affiliation than their English-language colleagues.

• In 2011, more than 90% of workers, both English-language and French-language workers, in Atlantic Canada’s agri-food sector outside New Brunswick were employed.
• There were more French-language than English-language workers in the food, beverage and tobacco product manufacturing sector.
• However, Nova Scotia’s food retail and wholesale sector and food service sector had fewer French-language workers than English-language workers.
• In Prince Edward Island’s Agricultural Region 3, the proportion of French-language workers was lower in the supply sector (input and equipment) and higher in the food service sector, compared with English-language workers.

Linguistic portrait of French-language workers in Atlantic Canada’s agri-food industry outside New Brunswick

Knowledge of official languages

• In 2011, all French-language workers in Atlantic Canada’s agri-food sector outside New Brunswick knew both French and English, compared with approximately 8% of English-language workers.

Languages spoken at home

• In 2011, between 40% and 50% of French-language workers in Nova Scotia’s and Prince Edward Island’s agri-food sectors spoke French and English at home, compared with 2.5% of English-language workers.
• Between 20% and 40% of French-language workers in Atlantic Canada outside New Brunswick spoke only French at home, compared with between 55% and 85% of New Brunswick’s French-language workers.^Note 23
• In Prince Edward Island’s Agricultural Region 3, more French-language workers spoke only English at home than French-language workers who spoke only French at home (30.8% and 20.5% respectively).

Languages used at work

• English as the only language spoken at work by French-language workers varied greatly from one agricultural region to the next. For example, nearly one in four French-language workers in Nova Scotia’s Agricultural Region 1 spoke only English at work, compared with just over 6 in 10 in Prince Edward Island’s Agricultural Region 3.
• In contrast to English being the only language used at work, the use of both French and English at work by French-language workers was more prevalent in Nova Scotia’s agricultural regions (51.6% of French-language workers in Region 5 and 62.1% in Region 1) than in Prince Edward Island’s Agricultural Region 3 (23.1%).
• In Nova Scotia’s Agricultural Region 5, just over one in three French-language workers spoke only English at work in 2011, and just over one in two used both French and English.

Appendices

Appendix 1 – Industries of the agricultural sector
Appendix 2 – Agricultural sector and official language minorities in the census subdivisions
Appendix 3 - Industries in the agri-food sector
Appendix 4 – Agri-food sector and official language minorities in the census subdivisions