When parents ask Rickey Yada if their sons and daughters will find jobs after college or university graduation, his answer is always yes — as long as they’re studying agriculture.
As dean of the faculty of land and food systems at the University of British Columbia, Yada is constantly amazed at how quickly undergraduate and graduate students find employment.
In fact, all across Canada, agricultural program leaders are talking the same story. They’re consistently seeing perfect employment rates and a growing variety of career options, too.
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Importantly, enrolment by young people who intend to go back to the farm continues to impress as well, linked to the same sector-wide trend that, on the one hand, is offering great challenges and rewards in agriculture but, on the other, also demanding better training.
Change is everywhere. Women now account for half to three-quarters of students in Canadian agriculture university programs, and self-identified Indigenous student numbers are also on the rise.
In other words, while in a way nothing is new (in November 2018, when Country Guide last reported on agriculture enrolment, we also found most ag classes were packed), numbers alone don’t tell the whole story.
Oh yes, and then there’s the pandemic, but while there was a drop in international students due to the pandemic, domestic student applications increased.
“Right now there are more mature students in my classes than the traditional 18-year-olds,” says Renee Prasad, agriculture department chair at Fraser Valley. “I can’t help but wonder if the change reflects something about the impacts of COVID-19.”
With so much going on, we reached out to nine of Canada’s top agricultural universities to ask for the latest.
Quebec
The new agriculture
At McGill’s Macdonald campus, agriculture programs boomed in popularity in the mid-2010s. Record-high enrolment of more than 2,300 students in the faculty of agricultural and environmental sciences remained steady until the pandemic hit.
McGill’s student numbers dropped by nearly 10 per cent in the fall of 2020, a decrease that Valérie Orsat, associate dean of the faculty of agricultural and environmental sciences, relates to the high number of COVID-19 cases in Montreal at the time. But, student interest didn’t decline across the board.
“Numbers dropped in nutritional sciences, engineering and other programs but there was still a very strong demand to study agriculture,” Orsat says, noting that today’s students are keen to make a difference and feel they can do that in agriculture.
Domestic student enrolment for all programs returned to prior norms in fall 2021 and Orsat is hoping to see renewed international interest from countries like China next year.
While McGill has not changed or added any undergraduate programs, Orsat says many new professors who have joined the faculty in the last five years have revamped their courses. “Course names may be the same but much of the content has been updated as they’re now being taught by younger professors with current research interests and a newer vision of where agriculture is going.”
French-language Laval University’s faculty of agriculture and food sciences has over 2,800 students enrolled this year. Bachelor degree programs in agronomy, consumer science and nutrition top the list for highest enrolment. Associate academic dean Lyne Létourneau also says interest in the faculty’s short, distance-training courses has increased during the pandemic.
Ontario
University and college strength
In Ontario, current enrolment in agriculture diploma, undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Guelph totals about 3,700 students. The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) offers eight degree programs and 19 majors at the main Guelph campus and two-year associate diploma and apprenticeship programs at its Ridgetown campus.
Jon Warland, associate academic dean, says the college experienced slight dips in enrolment in both 2020 and 2021, likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It looks like some students have decided to take a hiatus, which in our agriculture programs makes a lot of sense because they are such hands-on, in-the-lab type experiences,” he says.
The honours agriculture and animal science majors of the bachelor of science in agriculture (B.Sc.Agr.) degree program continue to attract the most interest, followed by the bachelor of science in environmental sciences offerings.
A new bachelor of Indigenous environmental science and practice program was offered for the first time this fall. While there are only four students enrolled this semester, OAC faculty expect the demand to grow.
“It’s a braiding together of Indigenous and western knowledge systems,” explains Warland. “We see future graduates of this program as bridge builders.”
Manitoba
Growing interest in business
Manitoba’s B.Sc. in agribusiness and its B.Sc. in human nutritional sciences and are currently the top two programs offered by the university’s faculty of agriculture and food sciences, and represent about 60 per cent of the faculty’s students.
At the University of Manitoba, enrolment in the faculty of agriculture and food sciences has been either growing or holding steady for the last number of years. Even during the pandemic, only enrolment in one program dropped off — the diploma in agriculture.
“It is possible that there is a general sentiment that they want to wait for COVID to go away before they come back to school,” says associate dean of academic and graduate programs Jitendra Paliwal, referring to the hands-on nature of many diploma courses.
In 2018, there were 720 students in undergraduate degree programs and he expects the number to reach 800 this academic year. He won’t be able to say for sure until early 2022 because the faculty is now accepting students in both the fall and winter semesters, a new change as of last year.
A revamp of the degree programs went into effect in 2020 and resulted in many new and updated courses. It is too early to tell how significantly these changes have had an impact on student interest but new course enrolment is going in the right direction.
“We’re looking at indigenizing our courses and have started offering a new course on Indigenous issues in food systems,” says Paliwal. “It has been a runaway success because there is so much interest from students across the university.”
Saskatchewan
More business content
In Saskatoon, the University of Saskatchewan has seen steady growth in agriculture enrolment since 2018. Much of the change is attributed to increases in the animal science, agronomy, plant science and horticultural science majors of the B.Sc.Agr. program, says Eric Micheels, associate academic dean, College of Agriculture and Bioresources.
The college offers four degree and four diploma programs for undergraduate students. As a result of a recent review, the B.Sc. agribusiness major now offers program concentrations in farm business management, agribusiness marketing and management, and economics and policy. Micheels says choosing a concentration is not required but offers students the opportunity to study an area of business more thoroughly.
Alberta
Raising the standards
When Country Guide checked in with the faculty of agriculture, life and environmental sciences at the University of Alberta three years ago, most programs had maxed out enrolment. Since then, capacity has expanded and strong demand has continued.
“This year we have over 1,800 undergraduate students within the faculty, which is our highest enrolment ever,” says dean Stan Blade. “Even though there has been a reduction in international students due to COVID-19, domestic students have made up the difference.”
The faculty offers courses in forestry and human ecology but Blade says two-thirds of students are enrolled in studies related to agriculture. He’s seen the biggest increase in the B.Sc.Agr, B.Sc. in animal health and B.Sc. in agricultural and food business management programs.
“We are seeing a new focus around sustainability,” says Blade.
As well, over 60 per cent of the faculty’s students are from urban backgrounds, which Blade says is partly due to the high population of young people in Alberta.
Thanks to some quick work by professors and staff, the faculty was also able to offer unique certificate courses online during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics like world trade during a pandemic and agri-food sustainability attracted over 500 registrants from more than 50 countries.
South of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge is home to a small agriculture program under the faculty of arts and science. Students can choose to earn a bachelor of arts (B.A.) or B.Sc. in agricultural studies, but nearly half of them come to the university to upgrade a college diploma and earn a two-year post-diploma degree. Danny Leroy, co-ordinator of agricultural studies, says enrolment fluctuates from year to year. There are about 60 students studying in the program this fall.
British Columbia
At the University of British Columbia, enrolment is up 10 per cent since 2018. With an undergraduate population of 1,781, the faculty of land and food systems offers four B.Sc. programs in applied biology, food, nutrition and health, global resource systems and food and resource economics. The applied biology program — with majors in animal biology, sustainable agriculture and environment, food and environment, and plant and soil sciences — has seen the most significant jump.
“The increase has been driven by a renewed interest in issues around animal welfare, sustainable agriculture and food security,” says Yada, dean of the faculty of land and food systems.
The faculty saw a drop in international students in 2020 but international applications increased by 50 per cent in 2021 and many new students were able to arrive in time to quarantine before the beginning of classes in September.
Although the faculty of land and food systems is one of the smallest on campus, associate academic dean Zhaoming Xu says they’re setting an example by committing to decolonizing the curriculum and improving equity, diversity and inclusion.
At the University of Fraser Valley, agriculture students enrol in a horticulture crop production and protection or livestock production certification program in their first year. They can continue to receive an agriculture technology diploma at the end of year two and then have the option to enrol in a bachelor of agricultural science for two additional years.
