On December 2, 1981, Collette and Jean-Louis Bellemare opened the first Farm Boy on Cumberland Street in Cornwall, Ontario.

The Ottawa expansion continued with new stores in Barrhaven (2006), Blue Heron Mall on Bank Street (2006), and the Kanata Signature Centre (2007).

[6] Ottawa continued gaining Farm Boy locations at Britannia Plaza (2011), Stittsville (2011), Place d'Orleans (2012), which was the first store to offer an in-store eating area.

In the fall of 2003, the Bellemares created a board of directors to oversee the company's overall direction and appointed Jeff York as the new President of Farm Boy in 2009.

In July 2017, it was announced that Farm Boy would be taking over part of the former food court location at CF Rideau Centre in downtown Ottawa,[11] which opened mid-December 2017.

[12] Farm Boy founder Jean-Louis Bellemare, his co-CEO Jeff York and other members of the senior executives will stay on and reinvest to own a 12% share in the new company, which will operate as a separate entity.

[13] The new ownership will allow Farm Boy to continue with aggressive expansion plans into south-western Ontario, and in particular the Toronto region.

Michael Medline, President and CEO of Empire Company Limited, assured consumers that they will continue to get the shopping experience that defines Farm Boy.

Farm Boy products will be included in the Ocado-based e-commerce business expected to start in 2020 but as a separate entity from the other Empire chains.