A new study from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture paints a fresh picture of farming’s economic impact in the province and also makes recommendations on what governments — from the municipal to federal level — could do to help farmers to be more competitive and make an even bigger contribution to the provincial economy.
According to the report, entitled Economic Impacts of Farming in Ontario, the sector generated total revenue of $18.1 billion in 2020, the most recent year for which stats are available. When the multiplier effect is added to account for supply chain activities and re-spending by workers, revenue balloons to $34.4 billion, notes Ben LeFort, senior OFA policy advisor and the report’s author.
Other economic barometers also illustrate farming’s impressive contribution to the province with total Gross Domestic Product checking in at $15.3 billion; total jobs at 297,247; and total labour income reaching $7.8 billion.
The report makes policy recommendations to address challenges farmers face as they work to increase agriculture’s contribution to the provincial economy. LeFort notes that a survey of OFA members identified three top concerns: the need to reduce farmers’ tax burden, supporting farms with energy costs, and encouraging Ontarians to buy local food.
In this interview, LeFort tells RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin that farm property taxes continue to be the most pressing issue for farmers. He notes that declining tax bases in rural municipalities means local governments continue to increase the portion of operating budgets that come from farmland tax. In Perth County, for example, farm taxes made up 17 per cent of the municipal budget in 2012. In 2022, that number had increased to 28 per cent.
LeFort adds that all levels of government could do more to help farmers and the agriculture industry. He notes that the federal government could make all farmers more competitive in the wake of U.S. tariff threats by adopting some simple tax adjustments to put Canadian farmers on a more equal tax footing with U.S. farmers.
LeFort says two options include adopting a permanent accelerated capital cost allowance on new equipment and a temporary bonus depreciation provision — two tax programs currently available to U.S. farmers. Watch the interview below.
Find a link to the webinar, here.
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