Census of Agriculture data at work
Data products
Custom data products and services
Pricing
Service centres
Census of Agriculture data at work
The Census of Agriculture is the cornerstone of Canada's agriculture statistics program. Governments use Census of Agriculture data to develop, operate and evaluate agricultural policies and programs. Statistics Canada uses the data as benchmarks for estimating crops, livestock and farm finances between census years.
Users in the private sector see the Census of Agriculture as an important window on the agricultural industry. Agribusiness evaluates market potential, and makes production and investment decisions based on census data; farm boards and organizations use Census of Agriculture data as a foundation for their discussions with governments and trade organizations. Governments and farm organizations use census data to evaluate the impact of natural disasters on agriculture (such as fires, floods, droughts and storms) and react quickly. Academics base much of their economic analysis of agriculture on data from the Census of Agriculture.
The Census of Agriculture serves all of these needs by offering a variety of products and services.
Data products
Basic counts and totals for all 2016 farm and farm operator variables will become available online as of May 10, 2017. These data are tabulated at the national and provincial levels, as well as at all three subprovincial levels (census agricultural region, census division and census consolidated subdivision).
A series of analytical articles will appear for several weeks following the release in May providing an informative and unbiased look at the state of agriculture in the country.
In the fall of 2017, the selected historical farm and farm operator data will become available.
Custom data products and services
The Data and Subject Matter Consulting Unit of the Census of Agriculture can tailor products and tabulations to meet the special data requirements of clients. Custom tabulations allow the user to create unique tables from the 2016 Census of Agriculture and agriculture-population linkage databases (from 1971 to 2011 except for the 1976 Census), as well as selected historical data (every census year available since 1921).
Subject to confidentiality restrictions, custom tabulations can be produced for Census of Agriculture standard geographic areas, as well as user-defined areas.
Pricing
The data products mentioned previously are all available on Statistics Canada's website for free on their respective day of release. Pricing for custom data products and services are based on the consulting time that is required for developing the product, the number of geographic areas and variables requested, and the data processing requirements for the custom product.
Service centres
To obtain more information on the data, products and services available from the Census of Agriculture, please Contact us at Statistics Canada.