Institutional investors and wealthy foreign individuals are speculating on Canadian agricultural land and putting food security at risk.
Some buyers are building mega-mansions on land meant for farming and a Senate committee report released Monday says that ways must be found to curb speculative investment and keep agricultural land owned by Canadians.
With many young Canadians keen to become farmers, officials are concerned that their ability to do so is hampered by rising land costs.
The average cost of agricultural land in 2015 was $5,400 per acre, rising to $10,000 per acre in Ontario.
Senate members may consider ideas such as limiting the size of houses that can be built on agricultural land, and banning foreign ownership of such land.
