Farmland ownership to be reviewed in Saskatchewan
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The Saskatchewan government will be looking into who should be able to own farmland here after questions have been raised about investment organizations, such as pension plans, buying agricultural property.
Some believe it’s a big reason why farmland prices have skyrocketed in Saskatchewan over the past few years, putting land ownership out of reach for many small farmers.
So, the province is now going to be undertaking a review of farmland ownership rules under The Saskatchewan Farm Security Act.
The ministry of agriculture cautioned that changes may come of the review, but it could also result in no changes.
While the review is taking place, the government is going to implement regulations to stop some organizations, like pension plans and other institutional investors, from buying up land.
Regulations will include:
• To further define pension plans, administrators of pension fund assets and trusts as not Canadian-owned entities.
• A family trust with fewer than 10 Canadian individuals listed as beneficiaries will still be able to purchase farmland.
• That having an interest in farmland is defined to include any type of interest or agreement, direct or indirect that results in any of the benefits (i.e. capital appreciation), either directly or indirectly, of owning of the land.
