Most farm families in Western Canada have built more wealth than any generation before them. Almost all of it is sitting in the ground, and that concentration is quietly creating problems most producers have never been introduced to.
Most farm families in Western Canada have built more wealth over the past two decades than any generation before them on the land. A lot of it is sitting in the ground. And that concentration, it turns out, is quietly creating a set of problems most producers have never been introduced to.
This session brought the Kohr Wealth team to the Growing the Future Productions live room. Ryan Hillstead, a CPA who spent 16 years in public practice carrying a heavy ag book, walked through three client stories that stopped people cold. Shane Shepherd laid out how whole life insurance works as something you own, not just something you pay for. And tax lawyer Kelly Caruk explained why buying insurance in the wrong place can cost you the very tax advantages you were trying to protect.
The conversation also got into what Ryan calls the tax liability can. The one being kicked down the road from generation to generation, growing in step with every acre of appreciating land. Somebody's eventually going to pick it up. This conversation is about making sure there's a plan when they do.
Guests: Larry Scammel, Shane Shepherd, Ryan Hillstead, Kelly Caruk — Kohr Wealth
Timestamps:
00:00 — Welcome and setup. Why capital concentrated in one asset class can narrow your options across generations.
03:52 — Larry introduces Kohr Wealth, their new partnership with Blue Star Equity, and their two beer rule for working with clients.
06:30 — How Kohr approaches life insurance from a balance sheet perspective. Liquidity, tax exposure, succession, long-term family control.
08:22 — Ryan Hillstead introduces himself. 16 years as a CPA in public practice, partner level with a national firm, heavy ag client base across Saskatchewan.
09:39 — How agriculture has changed in 15 years. Land values, technology, and the shift toward viewing farming as a wealth-building business.
11:42 — The $50 billion of farmland set to transfer in the next decade and why succession conversations have taken over the kitchen table.
12:58 — The disappearing tax tools. TOSI rules, passive income changes, income splitting restrictions, and the removal of surplus strip planning in 2024.
19:00 — Ryan's three client stories. Uncle Gordon. Rod. The estate freeze family with farming and non-farming kids at the same table.
21:05 — Uncle Gordon did everything right. Died with a $4 million investment portfolio. The tax bill on his land ate the whole thing.
23:09 — Rod sold the farm when no one wanted to take it over. Year three, he came in looking deflated. Said he wished he had never done it.
24:40 — The estate freeze family. $40 million corporation. Mom and dad hold preferred shares. The farm may have to sell land just to cover the tax bill when they pass.
30:56 — Shane Shepherd explains whole life insurance. What cash value is, how it builds, and why it behaves differently than anything else on your balance sheet.
33:37 — The farmland analogy. You don't sell the land to access the equity. Whole life works the same way.
38:10 — Kelly Caruk on the tax architecture. Why insurance is taxed differently than almost every other asset class, what capital dividends are, and why structure matters before anything else.
43:50 — The risk of buying insurance in the wrong place. For farm families specifically, a wrong structure can cost you the farming tax preferences you would otherwise have.
48:52 — Audience question: Can insurance companies go broke in Canada? Shane answers. Kelly adds the regulatory backstop.
51:28 — Ryan on the intergenerational tax liability. Generations kicking the can down the road. What it looks like when somebody finally has to pick it up.
54:55 — Shane closes. Tax tools have narrowed. Timing matters. Capital structure is as important as the amount of capital you have.
58:59 — Audience Q&A on preferred shares and estate freezes. Ryan and Kelly explain what preferred shares actually are and how insurance can reduce the estate tax bill, not just fund it.
Connect with Kohr Wealth: kohrwealth.com
Connect with Growing the Future: growingthefuture.ca