Why farmers are leaving the ByWard Market — and how the city hopes to bring them back

When Gibson “Gib” Patterson was growing up, the ByWard Market was packed with farmers’ stalls. His father, a potato farmer born in 1900, brought Patterson with him to buy feed, seed, and machinery from vendors in the Market, and took him out of school on Fridays to help with door-to-door sales and deliveries of their farm’s produce.

Patterson grew up hearing stories of his uncles, who would make the trip from Edwards, Ont., about 30 kilometres from Ottawa’s downtown core, with horses and sleighs to sell dressed geese at the Ottawa markets during the Great Depression. His mother, too, would depart at 2 a.m. to make it to the market in time for opening, with stones from the fire in the sleigh to keep her feet warm. 

In the early years of his life, although Patterson’s family sold directly to customers through deliveries or farm stalls, his father still frequented the ByWard Market for his own shopping.

“We would only go to buy; that's where all the factory and machinery dealers were then,” Patterson, 88, told the Lookout. “It's not the farmers’ market anymore down there.”

He said many farmers sell directly from farm gates or online; “Why would they fight traffic and find parking to get down there?”

Since its establishment by Col. John By in 1826, the ByWard Market has served as an economic hub, and it remains Ottawa’s oldest continuously operating farmers’ market.

Originally designed to house workers who were building the Rideau Canal, the market has evolved into a vibrant cultural district, home to over 500 independent businesses and a destination for an average of 50,000 visitors each weekend of the summer, all on the original site chosen by John By.

The current market building on George Street was built in 1926, replacing earlier buildings that had been repeatedly damaged by fire. It houses shops, cafes, artisans and familiar businesses that have called it home for decades. 

Outside, local artisans, sellers and farmers sell their wares. But as the district has evolved, grappling with crime, traffic and parking concerns, ongoing social crises, and housing shortages, businesses have shared concerns about the area’s future, and the presence of farmers has dwindled to just a few permanent produce stalls among the artisans and other businesses.