The Lower Fraser River Valley has some of the most productive farmland in Canada. Mild winters, rich soil and close proximity to Canada's third largest metropolitan area make it an ideal location for farm enterprises. Much of this prime farmland was underwater for several days during the second half of November, killing livestock and destroying or damaging farm machinery and infrastructure.
Recently, Statistics Canada supported the Government of British Columbia in its emergency response by providing key statistical information on areas affected by the flood, including data on farming activities from the Census of Agriculture. This is part of ongoing efforts to improve emergency management in Canada through better data.
In 2016, the most recent year for which census data is available, a total of 2,580 farms were located in the flood zone. Two of the affected regions, Fraser Valley East and Abbotsford, represent a particularly large portion of agricultural activities in British Columbia. More than one-tenth of all farms in British Columbia (12%) were located in one of these two regions in 2016, including over three-quarters of all hog farms (78%), two-thirds of all poultry farms (69%) and almost half all dairy farms (45%).
Contact information
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