Agriculture–Crop production, animal production and aquaculture (NAICS 111, 112, 1151, 1152): Quebec, 2025

Workforce characteristics

In agriculture, just over two thirds (70.3%) of jobs are held by men. This percentage is undoubtedly higher in reality as this figure underestimates seasonal temporary foreign workers, who have had an increasing share of jobs on Quebec farms in recent years. The presence of male workers is greater than in all Quebec industries, where they occupy 52.5% of jobs in this sector.

The agricultural workforce is distinct because it is considerably older than in Quebec as a whole. In all Quebec industries, the proportion of workers aged 55 and over is 21.7%, whereas this group accounts for 35.1% of the workforce in agriculture. The proportion of young people aged 15 to 24 is similar (12.8%) to the industry average (13.3%). For the 25 to 54 age group, the proportion of agricultural workers is lower (52.1%) than for Quebec workers as a whole (65.0%). While the working population continues to age, the population of young people in agriculture decreases every year.

The gap between the workforce of salaried employees (56.1% in 2022-2024 vs. 50.6% in 2012-2014), who are continually becoming more essential, and self-employed workers (43.9%) is widening year after year. The portion of self-employed workers remains significantly larger than in all industries, where they account for just 11.1% of workers. Many small producers still own their farms, and family workers are an important lever in agriculture for succession, particularly in animal production. However, with the concentration of major companies in the industry, which have been gaining momentum over time, there has been a significant increase in the number of salaried employees. Note that these figures also underestimate temporary foreign workers holding wage-earning positions.

There is a split between workers without a diploma, who account for 25% of all workers in the sector, and those who have a post-secondary diploma (46.2%).

In 2024, Quebec's agricultural sector was made up of 28,200 farms employing 51,600 workers. There was a 10.6% job loss in the agricultural sector in 2024 compared to two years earlier. It was the smallest employment size in many years. Meanwhile, the number of farms dropped to 28,200 in 2024, which was nearly 1,400 fewer than in the 2021 census.

Temporary foreign workers are important for the industry because the jobs are physically challenging in rural areas. Their numbers decreased to 288 workers that year, mainly in the vegetable and fruit sectors. This was the first drop since 2019. The conditions of employment were reviewed, and stricter rules were set out throughout the year following the comprehensive reform of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), even though the rules were less stringent in the agricultural sector. There are many reasons for the shortage of agricultural workers, but the long hours in the fields, the hard work and the remoteness of rural areas mean that it is not easy to find local workers who want to take these jobs.

Domestic food demand for agricultural products continues to grow year after year, and its monetary value totalled over $68.9B (+5.2%) in 2024. This growth continues to be partly due to food prices, which have remained high in several sectors. However, 2.0% food inflation was less than that of inflation for all goods and services for the first time since 2018. Therefore, the main factor that supports food demand is still population growth, which is mainly based on the contribution of immigration and the influx of tourists, which was up by 9.3%. These two factors offset the drop in domestic demand from Quebec consumers, who have been facing difficult choices for the past two years in a more restrictive financial environment. However, immigration to Quebec shows signs of slowing down after several years of sharp increases.

Farm receipts from the Quebec market for 2024 increased by 4.1% at $12.3B, of which nearly 60% was from animal production. 2024 was a good year in general because the climate was mild, and there were abundant crops. A significant portion of the increase in receipts came from maple syrup production, which was notable that year. Moreover, cash receipts doubled in the province among maple syrup producers and reached $783M. Receipts for livestock products in 2024 were bolstered by pork prices, which were up. In most of the crop and animal production sub-sectors, all indicators were positive in 2024, which is in contrast to the previous year. However, the grain corn and hay sector remain difficult. Hay revenues peaked at $114M in 2013. They have constantly dropped since then and reached a trough of $63M in 2024.

Inflation was more under control in 2024. This helped lower certain input prices for commercial animal feed. The price of these inputs was reduced by 13% in Quebec, which also had to do with the drop in international grain and oil crop prices and provides relief for animal producers. These inputs take up a large share of expenses in operating costs, but the lower costs appear to be insufficient in reducing total operating costs significantly. Even though animal feed accounts for 20% of operating expenses, which is down 3 percentage points, it is offset by the increase in debt service, which accounts for 18% of expenses. This was up 3.5 percentage points compared to 2023 in the wake of successive interest rate hikes. Salaries still account for 15% of the production expense budget. Despite good numbers for manufacturing sales and deliveries, which remained stable in 2024, farmers have seen their average profits decrease over the past three years.

The real GDP for the bio-food industry showed slight growth of 1.4% at $29.7B in 2024 and accounted for 1.3% of the entire Quebec economy. This growth is lower than the change in GDP in agriculture generally, which increased by 6.6% and was because the main contributors to GDP in the bio-food industry, such as food manufacturing and wholesale trade, had negative changes of 1.9% and 1.7%.

Receipts in the agricultural sector increased by 4.1% and reached $12.3B. Investments, which had been steadily increasing since 2017 (except for 2020 with the pandemic), fell by 3.7% in 2024. Several investments were postponed in that period of economic uncertainty and less favourable borrowing rates. It is worth noting that investments in agriculture and fishing account for over 47% of the funds that are invested in Quebec's bio-food.

The global economic context was favourable for Quebec and its food product exports, which jumped by 6.3% to just over $12.6B in 2024. Pork was an in-demand product in 2024 (+15%, $1.8B) after two difficult years, and Quebec exports almost all of its production. The export recovery is largely due to Japanese demand, which is up again. Exported honey and maple products (+12%, $960M) had an exceptional year, whereas grain product exports remained stable (+3.9%, $904M), given that they were always in demand in various international markets.

The United States was still the main trading partner in 2024 with 72% of bio-food exports from Quebec, which was followed by the European Union with 6%, China with 4% and Japan with 3%. Higher-growth markets and other countries accounted for 8% and 9%, respectively.

From 2025 to 2027, employment trends in agriculture are expected to be slightly behind the growth in all Quebec industries. For 2025, it is expected that employment will increase in the short term to fill positions that remain vacant, which will partially offset the cumulative job losses over the past three years.

Job prospects are relatively good, but there are still the same challenges. Quebec increasingly relies on temporary immigration to meet its labour needs in this sector. Employers have difficulty attracting and retaining employees because of the rural location of work, the difficult work conditions (long working days, physically demanding work, seasonality, etc.) and wages that are less attractive compared to the industry average. Tighter work permit rules will lead to fewer temporary foreign workers but will open the door to local workers who want to join the industry.

The food and beverage processing sector of Quebec's bio-food industry remains the main driver of agricultural growth. Food demand in Quebec and the United States continues to rise year after year and despite current trade war tensions, domestic and foreign demand is unlikely to affect the need for workers. The vast majority of exported products are covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which protects products from tariffs. However, it will be important to track the reopening of this agreement, which could bring back the issue of supply management in Canada and now prevents Americans from selling certain agricultural products in Canadian markets. Moreover, tariffs imposed by China on some agricultural and animal products are still subject to negotiation.

The decline in investments in 2024 was temporary and cyclical as the sector had to continue to modernize as it had been for a decade, which promotes prospects in better-paying jobs. Federal and provincial governments remain active in this industry by continuing to renew programs that promote the development of agricultural production, and particularly that of the Quebec government in its quest for food self-sufficiency for the province. All measures (Politique bioalimentaire 2018–2025, Plan d'agriculture durable 2020–2023, Initiative ministérielle "Productivité végétale," Stratégie de croissance des serres 2020–2025, etc.) are aimed at the full development of agricultural resources and the promotion of agricultural employment in modernizing plants.

Quebec continues its search for food self-sufficiency for future generations. By doing so, the industry wants to attract and retain a changing workforce. Attracting a certain number of workers from immigration in this industry is still a solution in Quebec with its aging population. Workers aged 55 and over make up 35% of the workforce. Many farmers have already retired in recent years, while others are preparing to do so. They also represent the vast majority of family farms, which predominate in the sector, and where there is a glaring lack of succession. The transformation of small farms into bigger farms also opens the door to more automation and therefore the search for workers with higher skill levels and commensurate compensation. Therefore, there are many entrepreneurial and job opportunities in this sector for those who want to take on new challenges.

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Appendix

Table A1
Geographic Distribution of Employment and Employment Outlook in Quebec, average 2022-2024

Table A2
Workforce Characteristics in Quebec, average 2022-2024