Balance sheet of the agricultural sector, December 31, 2015
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Released: 2016-06-22
$474.3 billion
December 31, 2015
5.7% 
(period-to-period change)
$0.3 billion
December 31, 2015
-5.7% 
(period-to-period change)
$1.9 billion
December 31, 2015
2.7%
(period-to-period change)
$2.4 billion
December 31, 2015
0.6%
(period-to-period change)
$2.0 billion
December 31, 2015
-0.2%
(period-to-period change)
$47.5 billion
December 31, 2015
3.7%
(period-to-period change)
$130.7 billion
December 31, 2015
4.7%
(period-to-period change)
$35.8 billion
December 31, 2015
7.8%
(period-to-period change)
$86.5 billion
December 31, 2015
5.4%
(period-to-period change)
$133.6 billion
December 31, 2015
7.8%
(period-to-period change)
$33.6 billion
December 31, 2015
4.1%
(period-to-period change)
Equity in Canada's farm sector reached $474.3 billion on December 31, 2015, up $25.7 billion (+5.7%) from the same date a year earlier. It was the smallest percentage increase since 2009.
Equity increased in every province, except Newfoundland and Labrador (-5.7%) and New Brunswick (-0.2%).
The value of total farm assets rose 6.2% to $561.1 billion in 2015, mainly as a result of continued gains in the value of farmland (+9.3%), which represents 67% of total farm assets.
Moderating the increase in farm assets in 2015 was a $2.0 billion decrease in the value of livestock and poultry inventories (-7.5%). Livestock prices were lower at the end of 2015, more than offsetting the increase in the quantity of livestock inventories.
The value of crop inventories declined $351.7 million (-2.1%). Lower on-farm stocks of wheat excluding durum (-26.6%), lentils (-47.3%) and canola (-7.9%) were mainly responsible for the decline.
The value of total farm liabilities increased $7.1 billion (+8.9%) to $86.8 billion. The debt-to-asset ratio, which measures the dependence of farm business on debt, was 15.5% in 2015, up slightly from 2014, but below the five-year average of 15.9%.
Note to readers
The balance sheet of the agricultural sector provides the value of farm assets used to produce agricultural products, the liabilities associated with these assets and the farm sector equity as of December 31 for Canada and the provinces.
Assets and liabilities in the agriculture sector's balance sheet include those of farm businesses and non-operator landlords (for farm real estate assets leased to farm operators and the corresponding liabilities) and exclude the personal portion of farm households. This most closely reflects the assets and liabilities used in the production of agricultural products.
The balance sheet of the agricultural sector integrates data already produced by Statistics Canada, such as farm debt, value of farm capital, livestock and crop estimates, farm product prices and selected data from the Farm Financial Survey. These data are subject to revision.
Contact information
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