With producers adding on again in 2023, Canadian farm debt has now more than doubled in just over a decade.
A Statistics Canada farm income report released earlier this week showed collective national farm debt stood at $146 billion at the end of last year, up 4.1% from the previous year and an increase of about 103% from the 2012 level of $71.8 billion. The bulk of the 2023 farm debt was owed to chartered banks and federal government agencies at about $51 billion and $43 billion, respectively, with credit unions owed around $22.3 billion.
Ontario farm debt was reported at the end of 2023 was reported at $37.7 billion, up 5.3% on the year, while Quebec farm debt increased 6.9% to about $29 billion. Saskatchewan farm debt increased 2.5% to $21 billion, and Alberta debt was up 6.8% to $31.8 billion. Farm debt in Manitoba actually declined slightly in 2023, easing 0.3% to $12.4 billion.
Rising farm debt was one of the reasons national farm interest rate costs jumped nearly 39% to $6.9 billion in 2023, although higher average interest rate costs – which were up by more than one-third last year – were a bigger factor. It marked the largest annual increase in farm interest expenses since 1981, when they soared more than 50% as the average prime rate hit an all-time high of 22.75%.