Statistics Canada is getting ready to do the 2026 Census of Agriculture.
The census, which is similar to a regular one, is conducted every five years.
It provides "community-level data on a wide range of agricultural topics" and "identifies trends and provides information on emerging issues, opportunities, and challenges within the agricultural community" according to information posted on the Statistics Canada website.
Topics include land use, machinery and equipment, crops, land management practices, livestock, farm finances, and agricultural labour.
Some changes have been made for the 2026 Ag Census to reflect the current agricultural industry and to make it easier and quicker to complete the questionnaire.
Paul Durk, the Chief of the Census of Agriculture, says at the start of May, farmers should get a letter with an access code in the mail to then use online for the questionnaire. If a farmer didn't get one, Durk says they can head to the Census of Agriculture website and complete it without the access code. The questionnaire take about 30 minutes to complete.
Approximately 190,000 farmers across Canada received the census in 2021, Durk noted.
Once the information is gathered, Durk says there is going to be about 14 different data tables published as well as some analytical articles over the next year.
"That's in May of 2027. In May of 2028, there will be additional data released and additional analytical articles released for the agriculture population data linkage. This is where the census of agriculture and the census of population data, we combine it together and add in an additional level of information.” he added.
The first Census of Agriculture was done in 1921. It's used by federal and provincial organizations and governments for decision making purposes.
Additional information on the Census can be found here.
