The amount of land reserved for farms is undermining efforts to tackle the housing crisis in Quebec, the Montreal Economic Institute contends in a report.
According to the free market think tank based in Quebec, almost 50 square kilometres of land in Quebec was rezoned under the agricultural category between 2020 and 2023, while only 7.4 square kilometres were rezoned from agricultural to other uses.
That conversion of land that could potentially be used for more housing comes as Canada grapples with a limited housing inventory. According to a report issued earlier this year by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., the national apartment vacancy rate was a slim 1.5%.
That shortage of available housing has pushed costs up. Asking rents for all residential property types in Canada rose by 5.9% in July from the year prior to $2,201 per month, according to Rentals.ca and Urbanation's latest National Rent Report.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has stated the country would need to add 3.5 million units in Canada by 2030 to address housing affordability, including 1.2 million units in Quebec alone.
“Although it is possible to get agricultural land reclassified in Quebec, it is difficult, and it often comes on the condition that some other land needs to get zoned as agricultural instead,” wrote study author Gabriel Giguère, senior policy analyst at the Montreal Economic Institute.
The study examined the case of Laval, Quebec’s second-largest city with a population of approximately 450,000 residents and a density of 2,574 people per square kilometre, excluding farmland. About 30% of all land in Laval is zoned agricultural. If those lands were rezoned, the island could house another 181,000 potential residents, a nearly 40% population increase.
The MEI notes that much of the agricultural-zoned land is not being farmed and that owners should be permitted to sell their farms to allow for new residential development.
“We should trust the farmer. If they want to keep farming, let them do so. But if they choose to sell, they should be allowed to and new housing should be permitted on that land,” Giguère said in an interview.
However, residential construction has waned in the province as a result of economic challenges such as elevated interest rates. Montreal, Quebec’s largest city, saw housing starts fall 40% in 2023, according to a report by Canada's mortgage and housing group.
Still, Giguère argues that tapping agricultural-zoned land could "help bring back affordability.”
“I am 28 and it is difficult for me and my friends to afford a house,” Giguère said. “What people want is very clear, a single detached bungalow. But we are not building them."
The Quebec farm lobby has expressed opposition to converting farmlands for other purposes. The Union des producteurs agricoles, the largest group representing farmers in Quebec, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.