This report presents and discusses statistics for agricultural co-operatives from 1998 to 2002. The information in this report is obtained from the Canadian Annual Survey of Co-operatives, a voluntary survey conducted by the Co-operatives Secretariat, as well as from information provided by provincial governments. Some of the highlights of this report are presented below: < The number of agricultural co-operatives incorporated increased from 1,314 in 1998 to 1,331 in 2002. < The number of agricultural co-operatives responding to the survey decreased from 980 in 1998 to 966 in 2002. < Agricultural co-operatives reported 35,000 employees in 2002 compared to more than 36,000 in 1998, representing a decrease of 3.8% over the period. < Agricultural co-operatives reported total revenues of $14 billion in 2002, which represents a decrease of more than 26% since 1998. < Fertilizer and chemical sales represent the largest share of farm supply revenues reported by co-operatives, while dairy revenue represents the largest share of marketing revenues reported by agricultural co-operatives in 2002. < In 2002, total assets decreased to $5.7 billion from more than $6.6 billion in 1998. Similarly, total equity decreased to $2.2 billion in 2002 from $2.5 billion in 1998.
