Biennial Agricultural Water Survey (AWS)

Data are collected under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, Chapter S-19.

By law, Statistics Canada is prohibited from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent, or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Statistics Canada will use the information from this survey for statistical purposes only.

Data sharing agreements

To reduce response burden, Statistics Canada has entered into data sharing agreements with provincial and territorial statistical agencies and other government organizations, which have agreed to keep the data confidential and use them for statistical purposes only. Statistics Canada will share data from this survey only with those organizations that have demonstrated a requirement to use the data.

Section 12 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with federal, provincial or territorial government organizations. Under Section 12, you may refuse to share your information with any of these organizations by writing a letter of objection to the Chief Statistician, specifying the organizations with which you do not want Statistics Canada to share your data and mailing it to the following address:

Chief Statistician of Canada
Statistics Canada
Attention of Director, Agriculture Division
150 Tunney's Pasture Driveway
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0T6

For this survey, there are Section 12 agreements with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Environment Canada, the Institut de la statistique du Québec, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, and Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.

For agreements with provincial government organizations, the data shared will be limited to information pertaining to business establishments located within the jurisdiction of the respective province.

Record linkage

To enhance the data from this survey and to reduce the response burden, Statistics Canada may combine the information you provide with data from other surveys or administrative sources.

The survey asks questions about

• irrigation volumes
• irrigation practices and water sources
• irrigated water that has been treated to improve its quality.

Statistics Canada publishes the results of its surveys in many formats. To find all the documents related to this survey, follow the links below and type the name of the survey in the search engine located at the left of your screen to filter the results.

Data: You will find tables, profiles of a community or region, thematic maps, public use microdata files, and data visualization tools.

Analysis: You will have direct access to Stats in brief (e.g., releases from The Daily, fact sheets), articles and reports, and journals and periodicals.

• What is the Agricultural Water Survey?
• How was I chosen for this survey?
• How will I benefit from the survey?
• Who uses this information? Why is it important?
• When will the survey results be available?

What is the Agricultural Water Survey?

The Agricultural Water Survey is conducted to gather information on water use, irrigation methods and practices, and sources and quality of water used for agricultural purposes on Canadian farms.

This survey is part of the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) initiative and is also the result of a collaboration between Statistics Canada and Environment Canada. The data collected will be used in CESI's reporting activities. The information will also be used by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to inform water use policy and development of programs for Canadian irrigators. Statistics Canada will also use the survey results to improve the modelling of irrigation volumes by type of crops and as part of the water accounts.

How was I chosen for this survey?

You have been randomly selected by Statistics Canada to participate in his important initiative. A sample of about 2,250 farm operations was selected from those that reported either irrigating or both owning irrigation equipment and having irrigated area on the 2016 Census of Agriculture.

Your information is important, as you represent many other crop growers, and cannot be left out or replaced if the survey is to be truly representative.

How will I benefit from this survey?

The data will benefit agricultural producers. The survey results will be used

• to estimate the current and future water needs of the agricultural industry
• to develop programs and management practices to help operators use this resource more efficiently
• to develop water use indicators to assess how the agricultural industry uses water.

Who uses this information? Why is it important?

The results from the proposed survey have many uses. The reported information will help governments, interest groups and farm operators gain a better understanding of the demand for water on Canadian farm operations.

• Statistics Canada will use the information to produce statistics on water use and water consumption by industry. All statistics are subject to strict confidentiality procedures to protect individual information.
• The information will support the ongoing reporting of the CESI initiative, which contains a national water quality indicator. CESI is a joint project of Statistics Canada, Environment Canada and Health Canada for reporting on the health of the environment in Canada, and includes the cooperation and input of all provinces and territories.
• The information will be used by Agriculture and Agri-food Canada to report on the environmental performance of the agriculture sector, and to inform future water use policy and program development to support Canadian irrigators.
• The information will help to develop agri-environmental indicators and develop policies and programs to help manage the water supply and to help operators use this resource more efficiently.
• Federal and provincial governments, including Environment Canada, will be able to analyse water treatment practices.

When will the survey results be available?

Survey results will be made available through a data availability announcement in The Daily in September 2021.

See Published data for data and analysis from this survey.