Our prime farmland in Ontario is rapidly disappearing

Our prime farmland in Ontario is rapidly disappearing

From Closer Look by Village Media Inc.

April 26, 2026 · 26 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the rapid disappearance of prime farmland in Ontario and critiques the government's focus on foreign ownership instead of the broader crisis of land loss.

The Ford government says it wants to limit the foreign ownership of prime Ontario farmland, all part of proposed legislation aimed at boosting food sovereignty across the province. But some experts say the government’s focus on foreign ownership is missing the real crisis: Ontario’s rapidly vanishing farmland. Over the past 35 years, Ontario has lost 2.8 million acres — or 18 per cent — of farmland to non-agricultural land uses like housing developments and aggregate mining. To put that anoth...

Topics covered

  • farmland loss
  • foreign ownership
  • food sovereignty
  • Ontario agriculture
  • land use
  • housing developments

Keywords

  • Ontario
  • farmland
  • foreign ownership
  • food sovereignty
  • land use
  • housing developments
  • agriculture
  • crisis

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ford government

Places: Ontario, Ontario farmland

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