Farming and fishing income

You may be operating a farming business, a fishing business, or both. If you run both a farming and a fishing business, farming and fishing income includes income earned from activities from either list below.

On this page

• Farming income
• Fishing income

Farming income

Farming income includes income you earned from the following activities:

• soil tilling
• livestock raising or showing
• racehorse maintenance
• poultry raising
• dairy farming
• fur farming
• tree farming
• fruit growing
• beekeeping
• cultivating crops in water or hydroponics
• Christmas tree growing
• operating a chicken hatchery
• operating a feedlot

In certain circumstances, you may also earn farming income from:

• raising fish
• market gardening
• operating a nursery or greenhouse
• operating a maple sugar bush (includes the activity of maple sap transformation into maple products if this activity is considered incidental to the basic activities of a maple sugar bush, such as the extraction and the collection of maple sap, which are farming activities)

The raising or breeding of animals, fish, insects or any other living thing to be sold as pets is not a farming activity.

For more information, go to Chapter 1 of Guide T4002, Self-employed Business, Professional, Commission, Farming, and Fishing Income.

Fishing income

Fishing income includes income you earned from the following activities:

• salt water fishing, boat owners with crewshares
• salt water fishing, boat owners without crewshares
• salt water fishing, sharesman
• freshwater fishing, boat owners with crewshares
• freshwater fishing, boat owners without crewshares
• freshwater fishing, sharesman
• animal aquaculture
• sale of fish, shellfish, crustaceans or other marine products

It also includes income from:

• grants
• credits
• rebates
• subsidies
• compensation for loss of fishing income or property
• other income

You can earn fishing income as a self-employed fisher or as a partner in a fishing partnership. It does not include income you earned working as an employee in a fishing business. If you are not sure whether you are a self-employed fisher or an employee, go to Fishers and employment insurance.

We consider crew members who receive a share of the catch, commonly known as sharespeople, to be self-employed. Therefore, you may also have to register for GST/HST as a business. For more information, go to GST/HST.

For more information, go to Chapter 1 of Guide T4002, Self-employed Business, Professional, Commission, Farming, and Fishing Income.