Charlottetown Farmers’ Market seeks support amid uncertainty over permanent location

The Charlottetown Farmers’ Market is asking Islanders to contact their MLAs and MPs as it looks for government support to secure its future.

The co-operative, which includes dozens of producers of P.E.I.-grown food, ready-to-eat meals and artisans’ works, is in a state of limbo.

Market president Travis Cummiskey said the organization is hoping to secure funding for a long-term solution and permanent location, but discussions with the federal government over its original site have made it difficult to move forward.

“We’re in a position where we could move forward, but we’re kind of stuck,” Cummiskey said.

A Christmas Day 2025 fire at the longtime Charlottetown Farmers’ Market building on Belvedere Avenue caused fire and smoke damage to the structure, meaning extensive renovations are needed to restore it.

However, the federal government, which owns the land at the Belvedere Avenue site, is only willing to offer a year-to-year lease for that location.

Cummiskey said such an arrangement makes it difficult to secure funding for repairs, and the board is also reluctant to invest in the building, which the market has already outgrown.

In the months following the fire, the market has been operating in a temporary location on North River Road. Vendors have previously complained this location, which is smaller and has fewer parking spaces, has led to a drop in customers.

Cummiskey said the market is considering its options, including building at another location, but Cummiskey said that would be expensive and require financial assistance.

To help secure that support, the market is encouraging customers and community members to sign letters and contact their elected representatives, particularly provincial MLAs.

“We’d like the community to show that the farmers’ market’s important to them,” Cummiskey said.

He said the market provides access to local food and artisans, while also serving as a gathering place for the community.

Cummiskey said the response so far has been encouraging, with several customers asking how they can sign letters or contact their elected representatives.

He said the campaign has largely been promoted through a Facebook post and word of mouth. Cummiskey said the market is also planning a public forum to discuss its future, with more details expected to be released soon.

Steve Knechtel, who owns Island Baking and Milling, has been a vendor at the market since it opened in 1986.

He said getting the public involved will put pressure on governments to act.

“If they don’t hear from people, they’re not going to do anything,” Knechtel said. “And the more they hear it, then the more likely they’ll do, they’ll fix it.”

He said the weekly market previously had between 50 to 60 year-round vendors plying their wares, but now has roughly half that number, reducing the rental income it receives.

Knechtel said insurance money has been helping cover the difference, but that support is expected to run out at the end of the year.

Knechtel agrees there are problems in returning to the original location under a one-year lease.

“Well, it means there’s no guarantee for the future,” he said.

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Vivian Ulinwa is a reporter for The Guardian in Prince Edward Island. She can be reached at vulinwa@postmedia.com and followed on X @vivian_ulinwa.