Cambridge Farmers' Market, Ontario — one of Canada's oldest continuously operating markets, founded in 1830. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
National Directories
The most practical starting point for finding farmers markets anywhere in Canada is the Farmers Markets Canada directory. It aggregates listings from provincial associations and allows filtering by province, city, and operating season. The directory is updated regularly but relies on member markets submitting their own details — not every smaller rural market appears there.
Eat Well Canada maintains a secondary directory focused on farm-gate and market sales with an emphasis on certified-organic vendors. It covers fewer markets but includes detailed producer profiles.
For markets in Quebec specifically, Fermes du Québec runs a bilingual listing tied to the provincial farm bureau, with reliable information on winter market locations that are harder to find elsewhere.
Provincial Associations
Each province has at least one farmers market association that maintains current listings. These are generally more accurate than national aggregators because the associations have direct relationships with member markets.
- British Columbia: BC Association of Farmers' Markets — 145+ member markets across the province, searchable by region and season.
- Alberta: Alberta Approved Farmers' Markets — a provincial certification scheme that requires vendors to sell their own products, so the listings indicate the market type, not just the location.
- Ontario: Farmers' Markets Ontario — operates a vendor database searchable by product category, which is useful when looking for a specific type of produce.
- Quebec: Marché public listings through the provincial ministry of agriculture (MAPAQ) include market locations, hours, and seasonal dates.
- Nova Scotia and the Maritimes: Farmers' Markets of Nova Scotia covers NS; New Brunswick and PEI markets are listed through Agriculture Canada regional pages.
Indoor vendor area at the Cambridge Farmers Market, Ontario. Photo: Wikimedia Commons / JustSomePics (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Mobile Apps and Online Tools
Google Maps returns usable results when searching "farmers market near me" — most established markets have claimed business listings with updated hours. The limitation is that seasonal markets often fail to update hours outside their operating window, leading to outdated information in off-season months.
The LocalHarvest app (localharvest.org) covers North American markets and has decent Canadian coverage in Ontario and BC, though it skews toward certified-organic operations. Its farm profiles include contact details, which are useful for arranging direct purchases outside of market days.
Municipal tourism websites for larger cities — Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa — list their city's markets with verified hours and dates. These are reliable for major markets but typically do not cover suburban or rural locations.
Year-Round vs. Seasonal Markets
In Canada, most outdoor farmers markets operate between May and October. Indoor year-round markets are concentrated in urban centres and follow different operating schedules. Knowing which type of market you're looking for affects which resource is most useful.
Year-round indoor markets include the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver, Byward Market in Ottawa, and Atwater Market in Montreal. These are permanent facilities with fixed vendor tenants and consistent hours, distinct from seasonal street markets where vendor attendance varies week to week.
Seasonal outdoor markets typically open in the second or third week of May across most of Ontario, Quebec, and BC, and wind down in late October or early November. Prairie markets — particularly in Manitoba and Saskatchewan — have shorter outdoor windows due to frost risk, often running from June to September.
Verifying Hours Before You Go
Market hours in online directories are often the hours submitted at the start of the season and may not reflect changes mid-season. The most reliable approach is to check the market's own social media page or website directly before visiting. Most established markets post week-to-week updates there, including vendor cancellations and special event days where regular market programming may be reduced.
Markets Outside Urban Centres
Rural and small-town markets are the most likely to be missing from national directories. Local community boards, regional newspapers, and municipal Facebook groups are often the only place where these markets are announced. The Ontario and BC provincial market associations include searchable maps that extend into smaller communities, and these are worth checking if you're travelling through rural areas during the summer.
Farm gate sales — where producers sell directly from the property rather than through a market — are typically listed on provincial agriculture ministry pages or through the farm's own website. They operate on different schedules and usually require advance contact.