Author Description

The loss of farmland and land with high capability for agriculture has been a point of concern to farmers, various levels of government and the general public, particularly in the last five years. This study focuses on the amount of rural land lost to direct urbanization, that is, land that has become part of the urban built-up area. The time period studied spans five years from 1966 to 1971 and the area covered includes those Urban Areas with a population of 25,000 people or over as of 1971. The total amount of rural land converted to urban uses has been measured for each urban area; the former rural use of the converted land has been identified as has its level of capability for other uses. Aggregations at provincial and federal levels have been calculated, as have annual rates of conversion and rates of conversion per 1,000 change in population.