Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members, for the opportunity to share our perspectives on the proposed changes on tax planning using private corporations.
Through its member organizations, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture represents nearly 200,000 farm families from coast to coast. In my eight years as CFA president, it's hard to recall an issue that has evoked so much concern from farmers across Canada. Farmers have concerns with the breadth of the proposals, the limited consultation occurring during harvest, and the immediacy of their coming into force.
The CFA maintains significant concerns with the lack of time to provide feedback on such broad reforms to tax policy. We would be pleased to work with government on improving tax fairness, but such objectives can only be truly achieved through a comprehensive review of Canada's Income Tax Act that engages the broader business community. As such, we have signed on to the Coalition for Small Business Tax Fairness to advocate for a more deliberate and comprehensive process that proactively engages with Canada's small business community.
Today we'll focus our comments on farm sector impacts, but we believe a broader review is still required to address the concerns of the entire small business community.
We were pleased to see Minister Morneau and Minister MacAulay publicly state that Canada's family farms and legitimate farm practices are not the focus of these changes. Despite these assurances, farmers could be hit with unintended consequences, given the tight timeline before final legislation is to be introduced.
Canadian agriculture is evolving at rapid pace. Approximately 25% of family farms are now incorporated, while farms continue to increase in size and complexity. The average age of farmers is now over 55. Succession planning can take years, and many plans will become unusable as a result of these changes, leaving farmers having spent tens of thousands of dollars with little to show for it. The current proposals require significant amendment if legitimate practices are to remain unaffected.
I will now pass it over to our policy director, Scott Ross, to lay out a few of our specific concerns.