Alberta no longer tops in Canada in total farm real estate value, StatsCan says

Alberta no longer has the most valuable total farm real estate in Canada, numbers from Statistics Canada show.

The value of Canada's total farm real estate — including farmland and buildings — grew to $652 billion in 2022, according to agriculture balance sheets from StatsCan published last month.

The figures show that in 2020, Alberta's total farm real estate was valued at $146 billion, higher than any other province. Ontario was in second spot, at $141 billion.

By 2022, Alberta's total farm real estate value had increased to $167 billion, compared to $201 billion for Ontario.

"If you look at Ontario, the demand for land, farmland around urban areas … has been really, really strong," said J.P. Gervais, chief economist for Farm Credit Canada.

"I do think that it's a trend since really 2020 beginning of the pandemic."

Growing conditions are also a factor, Gervais said.

"In the Canadian Prairies, it's been really difficult for growers, [with] major drought and poor yields," he said. "Whereas in Ontario, the yields have been pretty good."

Data from Farm Credit Canada indicates Alberta's farmland is most expensive south of Calgary, with costs running up to $20,200 per acre in 2022.

In Ontario, farmland is most expensive in the southwestern part of the province, where values ranged up to about $39,000 per acre the same year.

Even though Alberta's total farm real estate value is no longer the highest in Canada, Gervais said Albertans can be optimistic about the future of local agriculture.

"[Land values] reflect the positive side of the industry," he said. "The demand for what we're growing in Canada continues to expand."

While Ontario has seen more dramatic increases, climbing land prices in Alberta are posing challenges for young Alberta farmers building their businesses, according to Gervais.

Businesses have emerged to help farmers with the growing costs of expansion.