The high age of Canadian farmers is not an abnormal phenomenon and follows the general trends of population aging. Data released from the 2021 Census of Population shows that the median age of Canadians is 41.6 years and 33.1% of Canadians are at least 55 years old. In the meantime, with the conducted surveys, they found that the average age of farmers in Canada has increased by 1 year to 56 years in 2021. In contrast, the percentage of young farmers in Canada is 8.6%, which has decreased slightly compared to 9.1% in 2016. Challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the aging of Canadian farmers have caused some of these farmers to consider succession plans in farming. In 2021, 6,673 more farmers reported their succession plans than in 2016.

The aging of farmers has led to the reduction of farms

As a result of the aging of farmers, the number of farms decreased by 1.9% from 2016 to 2021. The decrease in the number of farms has led to a 3.5% decrease in the number of farm operators. In 2016, there were 271,935 farm operators, and in 2021, this number decreased to 262,455.

Attracting youth to the agricultural industry

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau was at the Center des Moissons to announce a new investment of up to $3.75 million to help attract youth to the agricultural industry. In doing so, the Youth Employment and Skills Program provided funding to employers across the agricultural sector to attract young Canadians aged 15 to 30 into farming. As part of this strategy, Canada's Agriculture and Agri-Food Youth Employment and Skills Program aims to create opportunities to attract young Canadians to farming, particularly for youth who face barriers to entering or remaining in the workforce. The new program provides 50 percent of the funding, up to $14,000, for costs related to youth agricultural employment. The program provides 80% of the total eligible costs of up to $14,000 for non-profit organizations and applicants who employ Indigenous youth or youth facing barriers. This program gives many young people in Canada the opportunity to discover the potential this industry has to offer while helping agricultural producers meet their workforce needs. One of the other ways to attract young workers is the technological changes in farming and creating new job opportunities. Creating diverse and new opportunities in agriculture can counter the misconceptions that agriculture is an old profession and in this way, we can increase the attraction of youth who have a good relationship with technology. This will attract new people to the agricultural industry and at the same time encourage young people to consider the future of agriculture differently.

Last word

Through the Youth Employment and Skills Program, they hope to create more than 200 jobs across Canada in the agricultural sector for the youth workforce. This investment in funds helps young people gain the skills and experience they need to find and maintain a career in farming.