Clayton Reesor drives a tractor while planting soybeans on his family’s farm in the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve in Pickering, Ont., in the Greater Toronto Area, on May 25, 2023. (Photo: Cole Burston/AFP via Getty Images)London Free Press | 21 April 2026Ontario to restrict foreign ownership of farmland, joining other provinces
By Alan S. Hale
TORONTO – Ontario is placing “significant restrictions” on foreign acquisition of farmland, following other provinces with large agricultural sectors, including Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
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Agriculture Minister Trevor Jones is expected to introduce legislation at Queen’s Park on Wednesday afternoon aimed at preventing “foreign investors from driving up the price of farmland in Ontario.”
At a press conference Tuesday, Jones framed the restrictions as a way to “ensure that Ontario has a strong, independent food supply for generations to come.”
“Restricting the foreign ownership of farmland (will) ensure that it isn’t just a number on a balance sheet of some overseas company, but actively producing food to feed our communities and the world,” Jones said.
The government says the legislation will “align Ontario with the approach taken by other jurisdictions in Canada, including Alberta and Quebec,” which both passed laws restricting foreign ownership of farmland in 2022.
In Alberta, foreign buyers are limited to 20 acres of farmland, while Quebec requires buyers to obtain authorization from a regulatory authority before purchasing farmland.
Ontario has not specified what restrictions it is considering. The bill will give the province the power to regulate foreign ownership, with details to be set later.
Agricultural groups appeared startled by the announcement.
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture said it could not comment on the plan because it needed more time to review the announcement and its impacts.
Jim Brackett, president of the Kent Federation of Agriculture, said he has many questions.
“Who is a foreign or international buyer? Does it impact corporations or pension funds? … Are existing foreign owners grandfathered in? Will it also apply to leases? These are all questions of mine,” Brackett said.
Jones has said the bill will not affect completed purchases.
The National Farmers Union has been pushing Ontario to crack down on foreign ownership since 2022. Ontario president Josh Suppan also said he could not comment without seeing details.
But new restrictions on foreign ownership may not transform very much because, according to brokers, there isn’t much Ontario farmland being bought by entities from outside Canada.
“In the past 12 years, I have not had a foreign buyer. And I have sold roughly 30,000 acres,” said Steven Michie, a farm real estate broker based in Brussels, Ont.
Another broker, Phil Chabot, agreed. He noted that there used to be more foreign investment in Ontario farmland in the past, but it has “slowed down quite significantly in the past 10 to 15 years.”
“Overall, there are very few acquisitions by foreign buyers, and the percentage of ownership is still very minuscule,” Chabot said. “I don’t think it is a significant issue right now.”
Postmedia asked Jones’s office how much Ontario farmland is owned by foreign entities, but no data was provided.
According to Michie, most sales involve large family-owned farms buying smaller farms. There are also investment firms buying farmland to rent back to farmers, but those tend to be Canada-based.
For instance, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is a major investor in farmland, owning 130,000 acres around the world.
Chabot added that money from investment firms has also been drying up in the past few years because “they just can’t get the return (they want) on a cash rent, basically.”
Michie wondered if the new restrictions would be aimed at foreign investors buying farmland in the Greater Toronto Area with the intention of using it for housing development.
“Maybe what they are trying to stop is the stuff around the GTA,” he said.
Chabot said that could make sense.
“There is definitely foreign investment in that,” he said. “There’s no question that there’s a lot of money from overseas into that.”
