Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The Quebec government has put an immediate halt to any purchase of agricultural land by an investment fund.

The moratorium was announced Dec. 5 as Quebec Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne unveiled his long-awaited legislation to bolster the province’s protection of farmland, Bill 86.

“I am very proud to present this morning a very ambitious bill,” Lamontagne said at a press conference after tabling the legislation in the National Assembly. “This is the most important revision of the Agricultural Land Protection Act (Loi sur la protection du territoire agricole ) since its creation in 1978.”

The bill proposes a number of amendments to the farmland protection legislation already in place. These changes focus on five areas – strengthening land protections, limiting speculative purchases of land, supporting regions, simplifying the rules regulating farmland, and encouraging agri-tourism and local agriculture.

The legislation, drafted following a year-long consultation process, now heads to committee where it will be studied. It is expected to be approved by the National Assembly in the spring.

“This important revision of the law is the result of mobilization around an inspiring social movement,” Lamontagne said in a statement. “This will result in a major breakthrough for all of Quebec, which will allow us to preserve our capacity to feed ourselves while contributing to the vitality of our communities.”

The moratorium on the sale of agricultural land imposed with the tabling of the proposed legislation will be made permanent if the bill is approved.

Other restriction that went into immediate effect pending Bill 86’s approval include:

• In certain circumstances, the purchase of agricultural land within 1,000 metres of an urban perimeter is now subject to approval;
• The construction of greenhouses or other production buildings on what is considered good quality farmland is prohibited;
• Construction of a second residence on a farm regardless of acquired rights.

These restrictions could be made permanent if the bill is adopted into law without amendments.

In addition to updating the province’s Agricultural Land Protection Act, the 51-page draft bill proposes to amend a number of other existing pieces of legislation, including the Loi sur l’acquisition de terres agricoles par des non-résidents, the Loi sur l’aménagement et l’urbanisme and the Loi sur la fiscalité municipal.

The result will see restrictions on who can purchase farmland and provides for monetary penalties for contraventions.

The bill also seeks to amend the rules related to how requests for rezoning land for uses other than farming can be made by MRCs, and under what conditions new uses of land for residential purposes can be located in agricultural zones.

The bill also seeks to impose mandatory measures on the government if it authorizes a new vocation to existing agricultural land. And it also gives the government the authority to add a lot that is not currently zoned for agricultural use to be included in the agricultural zone if the owner of the land is in agreement.

The bill also grants new regulatory powers to the government to determine when and under what conditions new uses for agricultural land can be assigned without obtaining authorization from the Commission de protection du territoire agricole.

Also included are provisions to exempt pig farms from the current mandatory process of holding a public consultation to approve the expansion of an existing operation.

It also gives municipalities the power to impose an additional tax on agricultural land that is not being farmed.

Erosion of farmland

From 2016 and 2021, just over 9,500 hectares of agricultural land in Quebec have been dezoned to be used for other purposes, according to the CPTAQ.

The agency also confirms that from April 1, 2022, to Feb. 28, 2023, the CPTAQ has received requests to dezone 317 hectares. It refused the majority of those requests, but conceded to rezone 41 hectares in the Centre du Québec region, an area on the south side of the St. Lawrence River across from Trois Rivières that includes Drummondville, Victoriaville and Bécancour.

In September 2023, Swedish battery manufacturing giant Northvolt announced it would build a factory in St. Basile and McMasterville on 170 hectares of mostly farmland.

In all, from April 1998 to March 2022, 1,780 hectares of farmland have been lost to 10 mining related dezoning requests, according to reports, while another 2,826 hectares of farmland has been lost to infrastructure projects linked to transportation and hydroelectric production.