Indeed, the growth in land values is largely related to the increase in incomes. In some cases, as in Quebec and Ontario, land value growth has outpaced the increase in income values. On the other hand, in the Prairies, the ratio of land value to farm income is much closer to the historical average.
I say all the time that we do not know, at FCC, what the ideal ratio is when we talk about land value in terms of farm income. However, we know what the average is for the last 25 years, and even for the last 50 years. We know that the ratio will vary over time, but that it should approach the longer-term average.
That said, there are different rules. Ownership and transfer are provincial issues. So there are different rules in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. There is a whole range of different rules.
We've never really studied it. As far as we're concerned, we have to serve our clients, no matter what the rules are. So we are designing the best possible products to ensure that these businesses can grow.
However, it is true that in Quebec and Ontario the ratio of land value to incomes has somewhat exceeded the historical average. In that sense, we could say that land has a somewhat higher value in these parts of the country, because revenues did not exactly follow the increase in the land value.