Ontario tables legislation to restrict foreign ownership of farmland

The Ford government is moving to restrict foreign ownership of farmland in Ontario as part of a raft of tweaks and changes to the agriculture sector that the minister says are being prompted by a need to “see around corners” and tackle future risks.

New legislation, titled the Protecting Ontario’s Food Independence Act, was introduced by Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness Minister Trevor Jones on Wednesday.

At the centre of the bill is a plan to restrict foreign ownership of farming properties in the province, an issue the government said could become a concern, even if it is not currently a major problem.

“This is forward-looking legislation to avert risks, avert potential for concern,” Jones explained to reporters.

The rules, he said, already exist in other provinces and parts of the United States.

Among the concerns of foreign ownership, he said, is the risk that land could either be banked and left unfarmed or used only to produce one crop that is then immediately exported.

“Large tracts of land have been purchased to go fallow … or to produce a different crop to be removed and taken overseas,” he said, describing the experience of other jurisdictions.

“You have that one sale that’s made, you’ve realized one gain, and now collectively, the province and our communities have lost all future potential for what that land could produce as far as crops.”

The proposed legislation also includes a number of tweaks to how the sale and farming of things like beef and dairy are handled.

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