The federal government has changed its definition of a “farm.”
On May 11, Statistics Canada will release the first bits of data from the 2021 Census of Agriculture. StatsCan has altered how it defines a farm in Canada to modernize its agricultural statistics program.
“A ‘farm’ or an ‘agricultural holding’ now refers to a unit that produces agricultural products and reports revenues or expenses for tax purposes to the Canada Revenue Agency,” StatCan says in a Guide to the Census of Agriculture, made public in April.
“Before 2021, a ‘farm’ was defined as an agricultural operation that produced at least one agricultural product intended for sale.”
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This change seems minor, but it could affect the number of Canadians who report owning and operating a farm.
“(This) new definition removed the ambiguity in the interpretation of a farm and focuses on business-driven operations,” StatCan says. “The application of the new ‘farm’ concept will affect the comparability of farm counts with previous censuses.”
Hobby farms, or small farms, will still be included in the census data, as long as the farm “produces agricultural products and reports revenues or expenses for tax purposes to the Canada Revenue Agency.”
The Census of Agriculture happens every five years, putting a spotlight on new and ongoing trends in the ag sector, such as changes in farm size, farm type, revenues and business arrangements.
Government, businesses, producers and academics rely on the census to understand what’s happening in the ag space.
This year, StatCan is hoping that more Canadians are aware of the census and make use of the information.
To help this along, last year it launched the Census of Agriculture online portal at www.statcan.gc.ca/en/census-agriculture.
The portal offers a simple gateway to the most recent agriculture data, maps, graphics and older information for comparison.
StatCan has also created the Guide to the Census of Agriculture, which can be found at the online portal.
The guide explains why the census is needed, a brief history and how data is collected and shared with the public.
For this Census of Agriculture, StatCan has committed to provide the data more quickly. In the past, some groups complained that release dates were too delayed.
On May 11, StatCan will release the Farm and Farm Operator data from the 2021 Census of Agriculture.
On June 15, it will publish provincial and territorial profiles, mapping tools and community profiles.
Agriculture-population linkage data will be released at a later date.
Older Census of Agriculture reports, along with the upcoming data, can be found at the online portal.
