Canadian Census of Agriculture

This article is about the Canadian Census of Agriculture. For the American Census of Agriculture, see United States Census of Agriculture.

Along with the Census in Canada, a Census of Agriculture conducted every five years to give a statistical view of Canada's agriculture industry along with its farm operators and their families.[1] Any Canadian citizen who is responsible for operating an agricultural operation or a farm must fill in a Census of Agriculture questionnaire, as stated under the statistics act.[2][3] The data from the Census of Agriculture is used to view the major commodities in the agricultural industry, as well as to view new crops and livestock, finances and technology usage.[4]

The Census of Agriculture in Canada is conducted concurrently with the Census of Population. In an article written for Realagriculture in May 2016, Greg Peterson, the director general of Statistics Canada, in charge of the Census of Agriculture, stated that if it did not run concurrently with the Census of Population "it would could an additional $13 million dollars".[3] Having both census forms being conducted at the same time also allows for the information from both the Canadian Census of Agriculture and the Census of Population to be matched up in an agriculture-population linkage database to create a social profile of the farming population.[5] The data from each are linked in an automated matching process via a database. The agriculture-population linkage database was implemented in 1971, and is still operational today.

The latest Census of Agriculture in Canada was conducted in May 2016.

History

The first national census in Canada was taken in 1871, after the Constitution Act of 1867 determined that a census should be taken every ten years. As population grew and more provinces were incorporated into Canada it was changed to be taken every five years. The first Census of Agriculture taken in Canada was in Manitoba, in 1896. Beginning in 1906 the Census of Agriculture was also taken in Saskatchewan and Alberta. In 1956 the Census of Agriculture was expanded from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, to include the entire country, and it was determined that it would be given every five years, at the same time as the Census of Population in Canada[6]

The Census was originally handled by the Ministry of Agriculture, however, in 1912 the responsibility of the Census was switched to the Ministry of Trade and Commerce. Six years after this switch, in 1918, the Bureau of Statistics, was created and became responsible for the Census. In 1971 the Bureau of Statistics became Statistics Canada and remains responsible for the Census in Canada today[7]

The latest Census of Agriculture data available, from 2011, recorded 205,730 farms.[4]

Data collected from Census of Agriculture

2016 Census of Agriculture

The most recent Census of Agriculture, in May 2016, included a questionnaire containing 183 questions, spanning 16 pages. However respondents were only required to applying to their agricultural operations, thus, on average each respondent only answered 20% of questions on the questionnaire. Questions on four new topics were added to the 2016 Census of Agriculture, including adoption of technologies, direct marketing, succession planning and renewable energy systems.[4] There were several types of data collected to assess information on current agriculture, as an important commodity in the Canadian economy[6]

Accessibility, publication, and education

The Census of Agriculture is protected under the Statistics Act, to ensure that all information provided during the census remains confidential.[8]

The Census of Agriculture has been useful in many scientific studies, including a study on land use for agriculture in Canada.[9] It has also been used in the past to to gauge the effects of climate change within the prairie provinces of Canada[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Canada, Government of Canada, Statistics. "2016 Census of Agriculture". www.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  2. ↑ Branch, Legislative Services. "Consolidated federal laws of canada, Statistics Act". laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  3. 1 2 "$13 Million — StatsCan's Reason for Running the Census of Ag During Seeding". Real Agriculture. 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Canada, Government of Canada, Statistics. "Census of Agriculture". www23.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  5. ↑ "Agriculture–Population Linkage Data: About Agriculture–Population linkage". www.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  6. 1 2 Canada, Government of Canada, Statistics. "Taking an agriculture census". www.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  7. ↑ "History of the Census of Canada". www12.statcan.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  8. ↑ "2016 Census on Agriculture About to Get Underway". The Real Dirt on Farming Blog. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  9. ↑ Kerr, Jeremy T.; Cihlar, Josef (2003-03-01). "Land use and cover with intensity of agriculture for Canada from satellite and census data". Global Ecology and Biogeography. 12 (2): 161–172. doi:10.1046/j.1466-822X.2003.00017.x. ISSN 1466-8238.
  10. ↑ Swanson, Darren (2000). Indicators of Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change for Agriculture in the Prairie Region of Canada : An Analysis based on Statistics Canada's Census of Agriculture. Winnipeg, CA: International Institute for Sustainable Development – via ProQuest ebrary.
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