Farm Credit Canada (FCC) tracks changes in farmland values closely. This week, FCC published its Mid-Year Land Values report, and in it, puts overall average growth of Canadian farmland in the first six months of 2023 at 7.7 per cent. There were pullbacks in the rate of growth in some provinces — B.C., Ontario, and… Read More

Even as inflation continues to grow and increasing borrowing costs have put pressure on farm incomes, farmland values across Canada rose 7.7 per cent in the first half of 2023, according to Farm Credit Canada’s Mid-Year Land Value report. Tight supply has continued to support land appreciation for now, says FCC chief economist J.P. Gervais…. Read More

No matter how you slice it, Ontario’s Ford government took liberties with the rules when it decided to re-draw the boundaries of Toronto’s Greenbelt. (You can read the auditor general’s report about how many liberties, here). A staunch supporter of farmland preservation, Peggy Brekveld, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, says that there’s no doubt… Read More

A controversial proposal to allow up to three severances off an Ontario farm property will be walked back, according to a letter sent to Ontario farm groups by Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister, Steve Clark. The decision comes after several farm groups, led by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, lobbied the government to drop the… Read More

Fourteen of Ontario’s agriculture organizations are collectively asking the provincial government to pause forward momentum of the proposed Bill 97 and the Proposed Provincial Planning Statement. “We stand in strong opposition to the 3 lot severances per farm parcel proposed in prime agricultural areas as well as other measures that weaken local farmland protection. We… Read More

Tucked into the Ontario Progressive Conservatives’ Bill 97 is a proposed change to severance allowances of farmland that the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) says could make siting of livestock farms much more difficulty. What’s more, the bill carves out increased power for Ministerial Zoning Orders in the name of housing; however, Peggy Brekveld, president… Read More