Saskatchewan launches consultation of Farmland Security Act

The Saskatchewan government is calling for public consultation on the province’s Farmland Security Act during a review of the legislation, which oversees issues around ownership and foreclosures.
The review comes amid increasing concentration of farmland ownership in the province and interest from younger generations of farmers seeking to maintain their family business amidst growing fears over foreign buyers.
“It’s the enforcement of those regulations that is somewhat concerning and we’ve seen evidence where transactions aren’t being looked at until months after the approval of the transaction and the land has already been transferred,” said Bill Prybylski, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan’s online questionnaire asks respondents questions around the foreign ownership of farmland, enforcement, fees and protections for farmers, which may lead to changes to the act, according to the province.

“I think there are certainly a lot of factors that have contributed to the increase in the farmland values and just the idea of wanting to get to the bottom of whether or not there is actually foreign ownership or foreign money that has influenced that,” said Prybylski.

A Johnson Shoyama School of Public Policy report into farmland ownership has found ownership patterns are shifting and ownership of farmland is becoming more concentrated.

The report found the amount of land owned by large-scale private owners increased by 140 per cent between 2018 and 2023.

“If producers are looking at expanding their operations, they’re certainly not going to be willing to pay more for land just because it’s there, as opposed to investors who are looking at investing in the farmland as a long-term investment and hoping that the returns will come back and they’ll be able to see that increase in value,” said Prybylski.

He said the questions in the consultation are comprehensive and he hopes changes will come from the review process to improve enforcement of the act’s prohibition of foreign ownership of farmland.

The province said there is no evidence of foreign ownership of Saskatchewan farmland under the current legislative framework.