Saskatchewan’s largest farming group has joined the province’s official Opposition in raising concerns about foreign farmland ownership, a week after a fiery exchange of letters between the province’s agriculture minister and opposition critic.
The president of the Agricultural Producers Association Of Saskatchewan (APAS) says keeping the lifeblood of their industry local has been top of mind for farmers for the last couple of years and that the group re-entered the conversation when it was brought up in legislature last week.
“We’ve been hearing anecdotal reports of concerns from producers and from reps that there’s been stories of farmland ownership from foreign entities and also foreign financing coming into the province to the purchasing of farmland,” said Bill Prybylski.
In a letter sent to the province’s agriculture minister Wednesday, APAS asks the province to consider more robust regulations for farm land purchases.
Prybylski says his organization made recommendations to the Farm Land Ownership Advisory Committee created by the provincial government a couple months ago, which included the same asks presented in his letter to the minister.
Among their policy suggestions is a verification process that would look into the buyer of a parcel of land, only allowing Canadians to make purchases and an ask to re-evaluate permanent resident ownership.
“We want to make sure that these concerns are taken seriously and that the government will look at some suggestions that may give more of a feeling to our members that something is being done to address their concerns,” said Prybylski.
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A question period debate on Nov. 6 on the topic of foreign farmland ownership is what sparked the exchange in letters from agriculture minister Daryl Harrison and Sask. NDP agriculture critic Trent Wotherspoon.
“During question period today, you made serious allegations regarding the Government of Saskatchewan and foreign farmland ownership in the province,” Harrison wrote in his letter, adding Wortherspoon’s quotes in legislature that the government “looked the other way and failed to enforce the law,” and that “no foreign entity, governments like China or criminal organizations should be able to profit off the illegal purchase of Saskatchewan farmland.”
“If you or other opposition members have evidence of these allegations, you should be providing that evidence to the Farmland Security Board,” Harrison added.
A couple of hours later, Wotherspoon’s response letter was made public.
“I stand by every word of what I said in Question Period yesterday. Your government has failed to provide adequate oversight to prevent foreign illegal ownership of farmland in Saskatchewan,” Wotherspoon wrote, later referencing the provincial auditor’s 2024 report where the security board did not address foreign purchases.
Saskatchewan’s auditor recommended last December that the province do a better job tracking and enforcing rules on non-Canadians purchasing farmland. Tara Clemett said there had been cases where the Farm Land Security Board, the regulator of farmland sales, did not request proof of residency for purchases made by out-of-province corporations.
At the legislature Thursday, Wotherspoon doubled down on his previous sentiments, asking the province to listen to the farmers.
“These are very serious concerns of producers in the province,” he said. “This should be crystal clear to the minister and premier of the province.”
Harrison said in a statement Thursday to Global News that the Farm Land Security Board implemented all recommendations from the auditor’s report, including the requirement of statutory declarations on all sales.
“The Farm Land Security Board hasn’t received any recent concerns regarding foreign farmland ownership, including from the Opposition. I urge anyone who knows of any instances of illegal farm land ownership to immediately report it to the board,” the statement said.
Despite the concerns, farmland realtor Ted Cawkwell says foreign ownership is not have an effect on land values as most land is owned by local farmers and that the province’s tight regulations make sure that foreign buyers do not get a big share of the land.
“You need to be a Canadian citizen or a Canadian resident, your money has to come from a Canadian source and you can’t be on a pension plan,” he said, adding that foreign buyers can buy land but only around 10 acres, which is not enough for farming.
“I’m a fourth generation farmer, and farmers here don’t really want foreigners to own our land,” Cawkwell said.
“So I think it’s an emotional thing, and I think because it’s emotional, it kind of gets blown up a little bigger than it maybe is.”
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