Published December 16, 2023

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The provincial government earlier in December launched the third and final phase of its public consultation as it prepares to overhaul the laws that govern the protection of farmland in the province.

The focus of this phase of the consultation will be the ownership of agricultural land and who should have access to it. The aim of the exercise is to solicit opinions on the increasing value of farmland and the consequences that carries in terms of taxation and the ability of young producers’ to buy it, as well as the question of imposing limits on non-residents owning farmland.

This phase of the consultation is expected to last 45 days, wrapping up in the third week of January. Farmers are encouraged to share their views online at https://consultation.quebec.ca/

Click on “Consultations,” then scroll down to the third option, which outlines the process for the consultation on farmland use.

The consultation is open to the general public, as well as those involved in municipal development.

Once this phase of the consultation is completed, provincial officials will tour the regions hosting online webinars in late winter with those who have shared their opinions with the aim of getting more in-depth feedback.

A final day-long public consultation session will be held in March, before a final report is written summarizing the finding of the consultation process that began last June.

This process marks the biggest reform of the rules and regulations administered by the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec since the agency was created in 1978.

“We must act to ensure that producers will be able to cultivate the land and feed the Quebec of tomorrow,” said Quebec Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne in officially launching this latest phase of the consultation.

But some critics worry that the reform of the law, which might strengthen the protection of some of the highest valued farmland, could make less valued agricultural land more vulnerable to dezoning.

In the last few years, municipal officials in a growing number of regions have been applying pressure on the Legault government to be more flexible when it comes to farmland zoning, as demand for housing and industrial expansions grow.

In an interview in May 2022, Premier François Legault commented on criticism levelled at the CPTAQ, claiming, in some instances, it was too lax in protecting agriculturally zoned land, while in other instances it was too rigid in its protection. The premier responded: “The priority for me is the economy and the acceptability of citizens, and not only the CPTAQ.”

And in recent months, hundreds of hectares of farmland have been earmarked for development for massive electric vehicle battery plants. And a recent report by Radio-Canada claimed that from April 1998 and March 2022, the Commission de protection du territoire agricole approved all 10 mining related requests on agricultural land it received, taking 1,780 hectares out of food production.

The Union des producteurs agricoles has been very clear, it is against any loosening of protections for all farmland, advocating for a zero-net loss policy across the board.

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