Up, Up, Up – Canadian farmland values for 2023

This week, the Farmland Credit Corporation (FCC), Canada’s leading financial institution in Canada for farms and agribusinesses, has published the farmland values for 2023. The average values for farmland across all provinces increased by 11.5 percent. This is slightly less than the 12.8 percent increase reported in 2022, but an excellent performance given the relatively high interest rates and the overall slow economic development in Canada last year.

High prices are mainly driven by a reduced offer, particularly for high-quality soils such as in South-Western Ontario where FIAN manages large agricultural land for its investors. In specific areas in that region, prices even surpassed the 10.7 % mark for the overall average of the province Ontario and the 11.5 percent mark for the country.

Saskatchewan, Quebec, Manitoba were the other provinces with double-digit average increases of 15.7 %, 13.3 % and 11.1 %. The only province where prices declined was British Columbia with an average of 3.1 %. It has to be noted yet, that British Columbia has the highest average farmland prices in comparison to the other Canadian provinces.

J.P. Gervais, FCC’s chief economist is cautious regarding future farmland transactions since he expects declining receipts of grains, oilseeds and pulses, by 13.2 percent for 2024. On the positive side, he reflects: “The good news is that farmland value increases reflect a positive outlook for the demand of agriculture commodities and the quality food we produce in Canada.”

Sources:

FCC Canadia Farmland Value Report 2023:
https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/knowledge/economics/farmland-values-report

Historic FCC Farmland Values Report, 1985-2923
https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/reports/2023-historic-farmland-values-report-e

Canada’s farmland values continued to climb in 2023, FCC reports
https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/about-fcc/media-centre/news-releases/2024/canadas-2023-farmland-values-climbed