Agriculture and rural communities embody the very best of what Canadians strive to be - resilient, hardworking, tough, and community-oriented. Farmers spend their entire year battling weather and volatile markets just to put food on all of our tables, then turn around to coach hockey, volunteer at local fairs, and keep their communities strong.
They deserve a tax code that treats their work like any storefront on Main Street. But because of Section 31 of the Canadian Income Tax Act, they are unfairly punished simply for being farmers.
To help illustrate this unfair problem, here’s the story told in numbers:
- 250,000 – The approximate number of part-time farmers in Canada (CRA data).
- 50 – The percentage of farmers who report a loss each year. Because Section 31 fences off nearly half of every dollar lost, most write-offs expire unused - raising taxes on rural households without raising lasting revenue.
- $17,500 – The cap on how much part-time farmers can deduct against their losses when filing taxes. For most, this isn’t even close to enough.
- 0 – The number of other businesses subject to these same rules. Welders, software firms, law practices, repair shops and more can all deduct every expense. Farmers can’t.
- 0.02% – The share of federal revenue it would take to scrap this unfair farm tax for good (about $134 million).
- 10 days – How long it takes Ottawa to spend that same amount ($134 million) on interest alone. For that sum, we could scrap the unfair farm tax more than 36 times a year - restoring fairness, spurring investment, and showing rural Canadians they matter.
- 1950 – The last time Section 31 was relevant. It was designed to stop wealthy city dwellers from writing off “hobby farms.” That rationale is obsolete. Today’s farmers diversify income to buffer against bad weather and market swings, not to dodge taxes.
- 75 years – How long Canadians have been waiting for fairness to be restored.
That’s far too long. Ottawa can fix this with one sentence:
“Section 31 of the Income Tax Act is repealed.”
Pass it in Budget 2026 and watch rural Canada breathe easier. The price tag is tiny. The payoff is huge - money saved at filing time becomes a rebuilt barn, a precision seed drill, or a paycheck at the local feed store. Suppliers, mechanics, and vets will feel the ripple, and so will the towns that rely on steady farm income.
It’s time to let farm families keep more of what they earn and reinvest close to home. Write your MP and let them know you agree.