REGINA – The Saskatchewan government is proceeding with a review of the legislation on farmland ownership in the province.
Agriculture Minister David Marit announced at the Legislature that the government will be undertaking a comprehensive review of the Saskatchewan Farmland Security Act, including stakeholder and public consultations.
Marit said the decision has been taken based on the initial review by the Farmland Ownership Advisory Committee, the committee that had been struck to look into the state of farm ownership in Saskatchewan and the legislation that governs it.
The initial review came about amid ongoing concerns about foreign farmland ownership in the province.
Despite those worries, Marit said the committee “found no evidence of foreign ownership of farmland in the province, which is consistent with the findings of the Provincial Auditor last year.”
However, Marit said, the Committee “did point to potential opportunities to further strengthen the legislation and the regulatory framework.”
Based on their feedback, Marit said, the province will undertake an extensive review of ownership verification, penalty and enforcement tools, as well as reporting obligations and oversight of permanent residents.
Marit said the review will also consider other components of the Act focused on the family farm, which were not reviewed by the Advisory Committee, “including farm security as pertains to the foreclosure process and home quarter protection provisions.”
He noted the last time a significant review of the Saskatchewan Farm Security Act took place was under Lyle Stewart in 2016 when he was the Minister of Agriculture.
“The resulting amendments clarified the Act's restrictions on pension funds and Canadian-owned corporations. Since then, the Act has continued to achieve its purpose and provide security for Saskatchewan family farms. However, as the market for farmland changes and the world sees the value of the Saskatchewan agriculture sector, it is time once again to assess the legislative framework that protects it.”
Marit said the government is “committed to ensuring farmland ownership legislation in Saskatchewan meets the current and future needs of the province and the farmland remains in the hands of Canadian farmers.”
Ken McDonald, the Chairperson of the Farmland Ownership Advisory Committee, spoke about the work of their committee. He said theymet with several industry stakeholders including the Farmland Security Board, SARM, the Saskatchewan Realtor Association, the Law Society of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Young Ag, Rural Municipal Administrators and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, among others.
“Certainly as a committee we would have liked to have interacted with everyone that expressed an interest in providing feedback, however in the interest of time that just was not possible,” said McDonald. “We were therefore very pleased that the Ministry will be taking a much wider consultation process of the whole Act.”
McDonald also acknowledged that concerns that foreign farmland ownership occurring was “brought up several times during our consultations, but no names or evidence was brought forward to support this is actually happening.”
He said the Farmland Security Board is “doing a good job of overseeing farmland ownership in the province,” but said there are some legislative and regulatory updates that need to be examined to streamline the process.
“For instance, review of ownership compliance prior to land transfer was an immediate win with all the groups consulted as long as it did not impede the speed of business, and permanent residents should have to meet the residency requirements as set out by the federal government and report their status to the board.”
He also said it was evident to the committee and to all the groups that “stronger penalties were needed to reflect the increased land values and so that the penalties would make a more significant impact.”
“The average age of farmers in the province means that the amount of land and the number of dollars that will transition in the near future is a real concern for this industry. There was definitely some appetite to look at some new and innovative methods of financing this transition so that our younger farmers have the opportunity to start farming or to expand their operations.”
As for how long this review will take, Marit said they are introducing it now, and hopes to be able to introduce legislation in the spring of 2027.
As for those who have concerns about foreign farmland ownership, Marit maintains they have “found no evidence of that.” He said if people have a complaint or they feel it is happening, they can phone the Farmland Security Board and they will investigate that situation.
Opposition Finance critic Trent Wotherspoon, who has been vocal in calling for a review of foreign farmland ownership for several months, welcomed the announcement from the province.
“I’m glad to see all the good people and organizations and producers that are going to be involved in this review,” said Wotherspoon. “This is long overdue.”
But Wotherspoon added that he thought the government “has been incredibly weak in closing the loop holes and enforcing the law with respect to illegal foreign farmland ownership.”
“It’s well past time they acted. Unfortunately it seems a bit that this is a government though that’s kicking the further down the road. They they had this review that was going on for a period of time, now they’ve got another one. That being said… I’m thankful for all the good producers and organizations that will be active in a review and we have a government, though, that has to stop dismissing this concern that the producers have been sharing and leaders have been sharing with them for well over a decade to crack down on illegal foreign farm ownership.”
