Click on province name to select a province

Newfoundland and Labrador		Ontario
Prince Edward Island		Manitoba
Nova Scotia		Saskatchewan
New Brunswick		Alberta
Quebec		British Columbia

Table 14 - Farm and non-farm populations, 1921-2001

Population		Total population		Farm population1		Non-farm population
Units		Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
Geography	Census years
CANADA	1921	8,775,164	100.0	..	..	..	..
	1931	10,363,240	100.0	3,289,140	31.7	7,074,100	68.3
	1941	11,489,713	100.0	3,152,449	27.4	8,337,264	72.6
	1951	13,984,329	100.0	2,911,914	20.8	11,072,415	79.2
	1956	16,049,288	100.0	2,746,699	17.1	13,302,589	82.9
	1961	18,200,621	100.0	2,128,327	11.7	16,072,294	88.3
	1966	19,971,760	100.0	1,960,273	9.8	18,011,487	90.2
	1971	21,515,115	100.0	1,589,360	7.4	19,925,755	92.6
	1976	22,928,155	100.0	1,255,700	5.5	21,672,440	94.5
	1981	24,274,287	100.0	1,152,880	4.7	23,121,407	95.3
	1986	25,233,590	100.0	999,800	4.0	24,233,790	96.0
	1991	27,211,413	100.0	865,905	3.2	26,345,508	96.8
	1996	28,751,593	100.0	851,410	3.0	27,900,183	97.0
	2001	29,914,315	100.0	727,125	2.4	29,187,190	97.6
Newfoundland and Labrador	1921	..	..	..	..	..	..
	1931	..	..	..	..	..	..
	1941	..	..	..	..	..	..
	1951	361,416	100.0	19,975	5.5	341,441	94.5
	1956	415,074	100.0	13,055	3.1	402,019	96.9
	1961	457,853	100.0	11,090	2.4	446,763	97.6
	1966	493,396	100.0	9,236	1.9	484,160	98.1
	1971	522,105	100.0	5,355	1.0	516,750	99.0
	1976	557,725	100.0	3,755	0.7	553,965	99.3
	1981	567,681	100.0	2,955	0.5	564,726	99.5
	1986	568,350	100.0	2,620	0.5	565,730	99.5
	1991	568,474	100.0	2,055	0.4	566,419	99.6
	1996	551,792	100.0	1,680	0.3	550,112	99.7
	2001	512,930	100.0	1,155	0.2	511,775	99.8
Prince Edward Island	1921	88,615	100.0	..	..	..	..
	1931	88,038	100.0	55,478	63.0	32,560	37.0
	1941	95,047	100.0	51,067	53.7	43,980	46.3
	1951	98,429	100.0	46,855	47.6	51,574	52.4
	1956	99,285	100.0	43,296	43.6	55,989	56.4
	1961	104,629	100.0	34,753	33.2	69,876	66.8
	1966	108,535	100.0	31,041	28.6	77,494	71.4
	1971	111,635	100.0	21,040	18.8	90,595	81.2
	1976	118,225	100.0	15,790	13.4	102,435	86.6
	1981	122,506	100.0	12,620	10.3	109,886	89.7
	1986	126,640	100.0	10,770	8.5	115,870	91.5
	1991	129,765	100.0	8,665	6.7	121,100	93.3
	1996	134,557	100.0	7,805	5.8	126,752	94.2
	2001	135,294	100.0	6,055	4.5	129,239	95.5
Nova Scotia	1921	523,837	100.0	..	..	..	..
	1931	512,846	100.0	177,690	34.6	335,156	65.4
	1941	577,962	100.0	143,709	24.9	434,253	75.1
	1951	642,584	100.0	115,414	18.0	527,170	82.0
	1956	694,717	100.0	98,944	14.2	595,773	85.8
	1961	737,007	100.0	58,020	7.9	678,987	92.1
	1966	756,039	100.0	46,283	6.1	709,756	93.9
	1971	788,965	100.0	25,590	3.2	763,375	96.8
	1976	828,570	100.0	21,445	2.6	807,120	97.4
	1981	847,442	100.0	19,070	2.3	828,372	97.7
	1986	873,175	100.0	15,475	1.8	857,700	98.2
	1991	899,942	100.0	12,535	1.4	887,407	98.6
	1996	909,282	100.0	13,060	1.4	896,222	98.6
	2001	908,007	100.0	10,475	1.2	897,532	98.8
New Brunswick	1921	387,876	100.0	..	..	..	..
	1931	408,219	100.0	180,214	44.1	228,005	55.9
	1941	457,401	100.0	163,706	35.8	293,695	64.2
	1951	515,697	100.0	149,916	29.1	365,781	70.9
	1956	554,616	100.0	128,978	23.3	425,638	76.7
	1961	597,936	100.0	63,334	10.6	534,602	89.4
	1966	616,788	100.0	52,042	8.4	564,746	91.6
	1971	634,560	100.0	26,665	4.2	607,895	95.8
	1976	677,250	100.0	19,275	2.8	657,975	97.2
	1981	696,403	100.0	16,155	2.3	680,248	97.7
	1986	709,445	100.0	13,235	1.9	696,210	98.1
	1991	723,900	100.0	11,000	1.5	712,900	98.5
	1996	738,133	100.0	10,350	1.4	727,783	98.6
	2001	729,498	100.0	8,150	1.1	721,348	98.9
Quebec	1921	2,360,510	100.0	..	..	..	..
	1931	2,874,662	100.0	777,017	27.0	2,097,645	73.0
	1941	3,331,882	100.0	838,861	25.2	2,493,021	74.8
	1951	4,055,681	100.0	792,756	19.5	3,262,925	80.5
	1956	4,628,378	100.0	765,459	16.5	3,862,919	83.5
	1961	5,259,211	100.0	585,485	11.1	4,673,726	88.9
	1966	5,780,845	100.0	507,869	8.8	5,272,976	91.2
	1971	6,027,765	100.0	334,955	5.6	5,692,810	94.4
	1976	6,234,445	100.0	243,530	3.9	5,990,915	96.1
	1981	6,438,403	100.0	205,300	3.2	6,233,103	96.8
	1986	6,532,460	100.0	160,350	2.5	6,372,110	97.5
	1991	6,895,963	100.0	128,430	1.9	6,767,533	98.1
	1996	7,138,795	100.0	114,605	1.6	7,024,190	98.4
	2001	7,237,479	100.0	96,675	1.3	7,140,804	98.7
Ontario	1921	2,933,662	100.0	..	..	..	..
	1931	3,431,683	100.0	800,960	23.3	2,630,723	76.7
	1941	3,787,655	100.0	704,420	18.6	3,083,235	81.4
	1951	4,597,542	100.0	702,778	15.3	3,894,764	84.7
	1956	5,404,933	100.0	683,148	12.6	4,721,785	87.4
	1961	6,236,092	100.0	524,490	8.4	5,711,602	91.6
	1966	6,960,870	100.0	498,025	7.2	6,462,845	92.8
	1971	7,703,105	100.0	392,210	5.1	7,310,895	94.9
	1976	8,264,465	100.0	341,110	4.1	7,923,355	95.9
	1981	8,625,107	100.0	303,505	3.5	8,321,602	96.5
	1986	9,101,695	100.0	254,780	2.8	8,846,915	97.2
	1991	10,084,885	100.0	226,680	2.2	9,858,205	97.8
	1996	10,753,573	100.0	221,230	2.1	10,532,343	97.9
	2001	11,410,046	100.0	186,085	1.6	11,223,961	98.4
Manitoba	1921	610,118	100.0	..	..	..	..
	1931	700,139	100.0	256,305	36.6	443,834	63.4
	1941	729,744	100.0	249,599	34.2	480,145	65.8
	1951	776,541	100.0	219,233	28.2	557,308	71.8
	1956	850,040	100.0	206,729	24.3	643,311	75.7
	1961	921,686	100.0	172,946	18.8	748,740	81.2
	1966	963,066	100.0	161,662	16.8	801,404	83.2
	1971	988,245	100.0	144,290	14.6	843,955	85.4
	1976	1,021,505	100.0	114,115	11.2	907,390	88.8
	1981	1,026,241	100.0	100,865	9.8	925,376	90.2
	1986	1,063,015	100.0	89,565	8.4	973,450	91.6
	1991	1,091,942	100.0	79,275	7.3	1,012,667	92.7
	1996	1,113,898	100.0	79,840	7.2	1,034,058	92.8
	2001	1,119,583	100.0	68,135	6.1	1,051,448	93.9
Saskatchewan	1921	757,510	100.0	..	..	..	..
	1931	921,785	100.0	564,012	61.2	357,773	38.8
	1941	895,992	100.0	514,677	57.4	381,315	42.6
	1951	831,728	100.0	399,473	48.0	432,255	52.0
	1956	880,665	100.0	362,231	41.1	518,434	58.9
	1961	925,181	100.0	305,740	33.0	619,441	67.0
	1966	955,344	100.0	281,089	29.4	674,255	70.6
	1971	926,240	100.0	305,415	33.0	620,825	67.0
	1976	921,325	100.0	202,710	22.0	718,610	78.0
	1981	968,313	100.0	217,835	22.5	750,478	77.5
	1986	1,009,610	100.0	199,020	19.7	810,590	80.3
	1991	988,928	100.0	159,290	16.1	829,638	83.9
	1996	990,237	100.0	145,560	14.7	844,677	85.3
	2001	978,933	100.0	123,385	12.6	855,548	87.4
Alberta	1921	588,454	100.0	..	..	..	..
	1931	731,605	100.0	375,097	51.3	356,508	48.7
	1941	796,169	100.0	383,964	48.2	412,205	51.8
	1951	939,501	100.0	345,222	36.7	594,279	63.3
	1956	1,123,116	100.0	332,191	29.6	790,925	70.4
	1961	1,331,944	100.0	287,814	21.6	1,044,130	78.4
	1966	1,463,203	100.0	281,583	19.2	1,181,620	80.8
	1971	1,627,875	100.0	258,180	15.9	1,369,695	84.1
	1976	1,838,035	100.0	219,305	11.9	1,618,735	88.1
	1981	2,237,724	100.0	202,380	9.0	2,035,344	91.0
	1986	2,365,830	100.0	189,855	8.0	2,175,975	92.0
	1991	2,545,553	100.0	176,940	7.0	2,368,613	93.0
	1996	2,696,826	100.0	188,510	7.0	2,508,316	93.0
	2001	2,974,807	100.0	165,650	5.6	2,809,157	94.4
British Columbia	1921	524,582	100.0	..	..	..	..
	1931	694,263	100.0	102,367	14.7	591,896	85.3
	1941	817,861	100.0	102,446	12.5	715,415	87.5
	1951	1,165,210	100.0	120,292	10.3	1,044,918	89.7
	1956	1,398,464	100.0	112,668	8.1	1,285,796	91.9
	1961	1,629,082	100.0	84,655	5.2	1,544,427	94.8
	1966	1,873,674	100.0	91,443	4.9	1,782,231	95.1
	1971	2,184,620	100.0	75,660	3.5	2,108,960	96.5
	1976	2,466,610	100.0	74,665	3.0	2,391,940	97.0
	1981	2,744,467	100.0	72,195	2.6	2,672,272	97.4
	1986	2,883,370	100.0	64,130	2.2	2,819,240	97.8
	1991	3,282,061	100.0	61,035	1.9	3,221,026	98.1
	1996	3,724,500	100.0	68,770	1.8	3,655,730	98.2
	2001	3,907,738	100.0	61,370	1.6	3,846,368	98.4

Source: Statistics Canada

Footnotes:

1		The change in definition of farm population between 1931 and 2001 affects the comparability of data among censuses. For a summary of these changes, click on Census Terms.
..		Not available for a specific reference period