Who are Canada’s farmers? New federal data provides a snapshot

The makeup of Canada’s farmers and how they operate appears to be showing some changes, according to federal data.

In a report, Statistics Canada said Friday that farm households are becoming more diverse and smaller, and more farm operators are living in urban areas.

It’s also becoming more common for farmers to diversify their income, as farming industries face significant challenges ranging from drought, fires and climate change to evolving consumer tastes, worker shortages and global price pressures.

Canada’s farmers are still mostly made up of older people and men, the report said. It defined “farm population” as farm operators — those who manage the farms — and their households.

In 2021, over half the farm population were men, at 52.5 per cent. Just under half of Canada’s population are men (49.4 per cent). Meanwhile, in 2021, more than four in 10 male farmers were 55 years old and older, compared with 31.2 per cent of the total population who were in that age bracket.

Similarly, 41 per cent of women farmers were in the same age category, compared to 33.5 per cent of Canadians.

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Immigrants also make up a portion of Canada’s farmers in 2021, sitting at 6.9 per cent, up from 6.8 per cent in 2001. However, immigrants make up a much smaller proportion of the farm operator population than the general population.

Immigrants made up 23.1 per cent of Canada’s population in 2021, up from 18.7 per cent in 2001.

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Meanwhile, less than four per cent of the farm population in 2021, 3.7 per cent, were part of a racialized group, while the demographic made up 26.6 per cent of the general population.

Among those in the farm population who identified as from a racialized group, 53 per cent were South Asian, followed by Chinese at 15.8 per cent, Black at 5.9 per cent and Latin American at 5.9 per cent.

The report also notes that there are fewer farmers than in the past as farms have become automated and sophisticated in their operations.

In 1971, one in 14 Canadians was part of the farm population, but in 2021, that number decreased to one in 61 Canadians, a decline of 62.2 per cent.

The average size of a farm household also dropped to 2.8 people in 2021 compared to 4.3 people in 1971, in line with general population trends.

Finally, more of the farm population is living in urban areas, with 24.5 per cent doing so in 2021, up from 16.1 per cent in 2016 and 7.5 per cent in 1971.

The greatest proportion of the farm population living in urban areas was reported in Newfoundland at 42.2 per cent, followed by B.C. at 37.8 per cent and Alberta at 28.3 per cent.

Farms for dairy cattle, field crops and livestock grazing were still overwhelmingly located in rural areas, while just over 40 per cent of those with fruit, tree nut, vegetable and melon farms lived in urban areas.