Skyrocketing P.E.I. farmland prices raise affordability issues

The value of farm real estate on P.E.I. is rising rapidly, and the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture says that underlines the importance of establishing an agricultural land bank in the province.

According to a Statistics Canada report released this week, the value of agricultural real estate on P.E.I. rose 66 per cent from 2010 to 2018, more than twice the rate of any other province in Atlantic Canada. In 2016, farm real estate on P.E.I. became the most valuable in the region.

That's good news for older farmers looking to retire, says P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture executive director Robert Godfrey, but it's a problem for anyone looking to buy.

"New entrants, and young farmers in particular, and people wishing to expand, and it causes concerns as to how they'll do that," said Godfrey.

In some areas, said Godfrey, land that was selling for $7,500 to $10,000 a hectare a couple of years ago is now going for $10,000 to $12,500. With the average age of farmers on the Island above 55, he said, that is a real problem for the industry.

A land bank was part of the Progressive Conservatives' election campaign, and in the new government's first throne speech last week it promised swift action.

But it is not clear yet what a land bank would look like. Whether, for example, it would include a substantial portion of publicly-owned land.

For Godfrey, a foundation of a land bank would be declaring agricultural land a resource. This would put the zoning of farmland into provincial control.

"If someone decides they want to take 10 acres [four hectares] and make it a single lot for a house they can. There's not a lot of parameters or checks and balances for municipal affairs," said Godfrey.

The new Municipal Government Act mandates communities to put together land use plans, and with no protection for farmland in place, Godfrey is worried about how that will go.

"We're concerned that when they do that, that certain agricultural lands will be rezoned and taken out of production, which will further exacerbate the land price," he said.

Godfrey hopes that during the consultation process over the next six months the government will have a look at land bank examples around the continent, and come up with a workable model for P.E.I.

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