Serres Toundra – Court of Quebec finds that a greenhouse operation is farming, not manufacturing or processing

The Quebec manufacturing and processing credits claimed by Serres Toundra in connection with equipment acquired for use by it in its greenhouse cucumber-growing operation turned on whether such equipment was Class 29 property. A Quebec regulation (similar to the exclusion in (a) of the ITA definition in s. 125.1(3) of “manufacturing or processing”) excluded “farming” from “manufacturing or processing.” In finding that the greenhouse operation was farming, so that the exclusion applied, Vaillant JCQ stated:

Greenhouse cucumber growing at Serres Toundra requires the same elements as those needed for cultivation in home gardens or farmers' fields: soil, water, light, heat and fertilizers. …

[The] food-grade mineral fibre substrate [used] instead of soil … plays the same role as soil … .

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Serres Toundra Inc. v. Agence du revenu du Québec, 2023 QCCQ 10441 under s. 248(1) – farming.