André Magnan

André Magnan is Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Studies at the University of Regina. His research and teaching interests include the sociology of agri-food systems, globalization and development, and sociological theory. Dr. Magnan has two principal areas of research. First, he has studied the financialization of agrifood systems, with a focus on changing patterns of farmland ownership and control. Here Dr. Magnan has documented how financial investors of different stripes are buying prairie farmland on a large scale. Along with Annette Desmarais, he conducted a multi-year study funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council aiming to understand how investor activity and farmland ownership concentration are affecting family farmers, rural communities, and the agricultural industry in the Canadian prairie provinces.

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Growing Farmland Inequality in the Prairies Poses Problems for All Canadians

blog | Mar 10, 2023

While most Canadians are acutely aware of how home prices and rents have skyrocketed in the last 15 years or so, few are aware of the restructuring of farmland ownership occurring in rural areas. Since 2014, we’ve been studying changing land tenure patterns in the Prairies, where 70 per cent of Canada’s agricultural land is situated. Our research reveals three major trends — ongoing farm consolidation, increasing land concentration and expanding investor ownership of farmland — leading to growing land inequality.