My Farmland ( 78mins, English subtitle)

Our world is becoming a global village, with an unstoppable flow of people, goods and services across international borders. Canada is no different. Investments made by foreigners and immigrants have become a controversial topic for the locals — especially when they happen in our rural farming communities.

When wealthy Chinese national investors and Chinese immigrants and begin to buy farmland in Canada, it impacts local farmers, who have lived and farmed on their land for generations. Unlike the cities, where people from many different backgrounds are omnipresent, these farming communities are tight-knit, with many relatives living in the same small towns, sharing similar lifestyles.

In recent decades, it was rare for immigrants of ethnic minorities to settle on farms. Now, aspiring farmers are coming from around the world and they bring with them more money to buy land, which challenges the traditional lifestyle in Canadian rural communities. It’s understandable that the locals are afraid; they don’t know these newcomers; they feel that their community is losing its Canadian identity; and typically, with change, comes resistance.

Some provinces have strict limitations on the number of acres that foreign individuals or corporations can own in Canada. Some locals call visible minorities by their ethnic origins like “Chinese” or “Indian”, even though they are Canadian citizens. When immigrants who purchase farmland are labelled as foreign investors, it can create hostile relationships with the locals. The line is blurred when farmland is purchased by an immigrant, who may be financially backed by foreign investors. It’s confusing for locals who don’t understand where the money is really coming from.

I was born and raised in China, and educated both in the U.K. and China. Having lived in Europe and Canada for many years has given me the advantage of understanding both western and eastern cultures. I know how difficult it can be to uproot yourself to start a new life in a country with a different culture and socio-economy. I can also relate to the other perspective: how hard it can be when something or somebody new comes along and your comfort zone is suddenly and irrevocably forced to change.

When I heard about David Fu, a Chinese immigrant farmer who had bought land in small-town Saskatchewan a few years ago, I travelled there to meet his family. In China, farmers cannot own the land they farm. David was thrilled to become a landowner there and the whole family worked hard and enjoyed the fruits of their labours, which David would have never had on his tiny state-owned farm in China. But I also witnessed their struggles; they were having more problems than the local farmers. They were trying hard to prove themselves and to be accepted by the local community.

At the same time, the young local farmers’ livelihoods are being threatened. Investors are increasing the price of land, so much that young farmers like Stuart Leonard are no longer able to purchase it — similar to young families in Canada’s cities who find themselves priced out of the housing market. The only locals who benefit are the retirees who sell their land to foreign investors, often the highest bidders.

A well-known winery at Niagara-on the-Lake, purchased from locals by a Chinese investor was struggling with a high staff turnover rate and was up for sale again. Some locals had mixed feelings about working for a company whose owner is a foreigner from a different culture and living in another country. At the same time, the owner had invested a lot of money to revive the business and was offering jobs to the community.

There are two sides to this story. New people coming to Canada are hoping to have a better life and a successful business while locals want to maintain the status quo of their comfortable lives.

The landscape in Canada is changing, whether we like it or not. Our communities may change; our neighbours may change. And the newcomers, whether foreigner or immigrant, need to make efforts to understand the locals who have lived in their communities for many generations. Through communication, they can work together to form a new harmonious and integrated society.

No man is an island; success does not come easy. We all have common values and goals. I hope people from both cultures strive to understand others’ perspectives; to see the strengths inside each other and to make the best of it.