Just under three-quarters of the land area of towns and cities across Canada were classed as green in the summer of 2023. Households play an important role in keeping our cities green through watering during the hot summer months. In 2021, just over two-thirds of Canadian households reported having a lawn, and half of those that did have a lawn watered it during the previous summer.
When it comes to watering the lawn, just over half of Canadian households are hosers
The likelihood of having a lawn in 2021 varied markedly depending on where you lived. The share of households reporting having a lawn ranged from 58% in British Columbia to 86% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
About 8 in 10 households in rural areas (80%) reported having a lawn in 2021 compared with 63% of those in large urban areas. However, households in large urban areas (56%) were much more likely to report watering their lawn in the past year than those in a rural area (19%).
Among all households that had a lawn, just over half (51%) had watered them in the past year in 2021, up from 43% in 2015.
The likelihood of a household watering a lawn varied greatly depending on location. In 2021, households in drought-prone Saskatchewan (76%) and Alberta (67%) were much more likely to have watered their lawn in the previous year than those in Prince Edward Island (12%) and New Brunswick (17%).
Of Canadian households that had a lawn and watered it in 2021, just over half (51%) did so by hand using a hose or a watering can, 41% used a lawn sprinkler and 19% used a lawn sprinkler system. It should be noted that households may use more than one method to water their lawn.
Speaking of lawns, total sod area for Canadian sod farmers edged up 0.5% year over year to 21 207 hectares in 2023, enough to sod over 42,000 football fields, while sales increased 6.8% to $162.5 million.
Just over three in five Canadian households have a garden or area with trees, shrubs, flowers or vegetables
Just over three in five Canadian households (61%) reported having a garden or area with trees, shrubs, flowers or vegetables in 2021, unchanged from 2015. Households that were not connected to a municipal water system (87%) were much more likely to have a garden than those with a municipal water system (58%).
Provincially, the share of Canadian households reporting having a garden ranged from 53% in Quebec to 68% in Prince Edward Island.
Over four in five Canadian households (82%) watered their garden the previous summer in 2021. Among households that watered their garden, just over one-fifth (22%) used a garden sprinkler or garden sprinkler system.
Vegetable bedding plant sales rose 5.7% to $202.6 million in 2023, while ornamental bedding plant sales grew 1.7% to $216.5 million.
StatsCAN app
Did you know you can read StatsCAN Plus articles and more on the StatsCAN app? If you’re already using the app, let us know what you think by leaving a review in the App Store and Google Play.
Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).