Canada’s cities and towns expanded steadily between 1971 and 1996, consuming more than 12 thousand square kilometres in this 25-year period. This expansion is equivalent to more than twice the land area of Prince Edward Island and represents an increase of 77 percent in urban land over the 25-year period. …In terms of sheer size, Ontario and Quebec contain over 55 percent of Canada’s urban land, and not surprisingly between 1971 and 1996, these two provinces also grew the most in terms of the absolute increase in land used for urban purposes. In fact, Ontario’s urban area grew by 3,472 square kilometres—this amount is larger than the total urban area found in any province outside Quebec.

There are various reasons for the expansion of urban areas. Two main factors impacting urban land use are:

a growing population; and
changes in the urban form [i.e. more land per urban dwelling].

Between 1971 and 1996, urban dwellers grew from 16.4 to 22.5 million persons, an increase of 37 percent. This increase in population, combined with the arrival of the baby-boomers on the housing market, increased the demand for housing. The preference in location and type of home also changed and accelerated the expansion of urban areas…..

Of the total amount of land converted to urban uses between 1971 and 1996, about half, or 5.9 thousand square kilometres, was dependable agricultural land. this loss of dependable agricultural land over 25 years is equivalent to the total land area of Prince Edward Island. By 1996, urban land in Canada occupied 3.2 percent of the dependable land in the country, as indicated by the Canada Land Inventory Class 1-2-3 land area.2

[2 This figure does not include the amount of dependable land occupied by large urban areas prior to the development of the Canada Land Inventory in 1966. Neither does it include areas occupied for non-agricultural purposes outside cities, such as road and utility networks.]

More than 52 percent of Canada’s best farmland—specifically, the land classified as Class 1 by the Canada Land Inventory —is located in Ontario. Class 1 land is the only class of land with no significant constraints on crop production. Most of this land is in southern Ontario where population growth is highest. Thus, one of the results of urbanisation in Ontario has been the loss of a substantial portion of the province’s Class 1 farmland. In 1996, over 18 percent of Ontario’s Class 1 farmland was being used for urban purposes. This land is, for all intents and purposes, permanently lost to agriculture….

Although in some regions, the loss of agricultural land to urban uses appears to be small, this measure does not take into account two important issues [Environment Canada, 1996]:

In some regions, urbanisation of agricultural land affects specialty crops that have a limited ability to flourish in Canada. In addition, these products often represent an important resource to the local economy [e.g. the fruit belts in the Niagara and Okanagan regions]. In these cases, the loss of each square kilometre is significant.
Cities also impact the use of surrounding land in indirect ways. For instance, golf courses, gravel pits and recreational areas are often located on agricultural land in areas adjacent to urban areas.

Thus, the effects of urban areas extend beyond their physical boundaries.

[3] From Statistics Canada, Rural and Small Town Canada Analysis Bulletin Vol. 6, No. 1 [January 2005], Catalogue no. 21-006-XIE

In 2001, about one-half of Canada’s urbanized land was located on dependable agricultural land.

Between 1951 and 2001, the supply of dependable agricultural land declined by 4 percent, while the demand for cultivated land increased by 20 percent. [Cultivated land includes cropland, summer fallow, and tame or seeded pasture].

In 2001, urban uses covered 14,300 square kilometres of dependable agricultural land. This was more than double the 1971 level of approximately 6,900 square kilometres. When urban land is combined with that used for small rural settlements [those with populations under 1,000], farmsteads and rural housing lots, over 23,200 square kilometres of dependable agricultural land had been lost to possible agricultural use by 2001. Transportation and utilities consumed another 11,700 square kilometres. Losses to urban and rural build-up and transportation and utilities can be considered permanent. In addition to those losses, 5,500 square kilometres of land were lost to protected areas, campgrounds and other uses from which it could be reclaimed [i.e., not permanent]. [See Table 2 on page 9 of Rural and Small Town Analysis Bulletin Vol. 6, No. 1]

As of 2001, urban land in Canada occupied approximately 3 percent of all dependable agricultural land.* More importantly, it occupied 7.5 percent of our very best agricultural land that was classified as Class 1 in the Canada Land Inventory.** [*This figure does not include the amount of dependable agricultural land occupied by large urban areas prior to the development of the Canada Land Inventory. **Class 1 land is Canada’s only land with no significant constraints to crop production.]

The provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta are home to 99 percent of Canada’s Class 1 agricultural land. More than 56 percent of this land is concentrated in Ontario alone and most of this is in the heavily urbanized southern part of the province. One of the results of urbanization in Ontario has, therefore, been the loss of a substantial part of Ontario’s Class 1 agricultural land.

As of 2001, over 11 percent of Ontario’s best agricultural land was being used for urban purposes [that is, permanently lost to agriculture]. By 2001, Alberta had lost over 6 percent of its agricultural land.