A company owned by the Canadian government has bought a $17 million dairy farm in Canterbury.

Photo: 123rf

The sale to Ramsay Dairy Farm Limited was approved by the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) in November last year.

The company invests on behalf of the Canadian public sector pension investment board.

The sale included more than 335 hectares of land at 803 Ardlui Road, and about 72 hectares of land at Morgans Road in Hororata.

It includes a medium-sized dairy farm and a neighbouring diary support block which will be connected to create a larger dairy farm.

The company wants to convert some of the dairy support land to create a larger milking platform to cater for an additional 400 cows.

In its decision, the OIO said some of the benefits to New Zealand included job creation by increasing the size of the farm, an increased volume of milk being processed here, and increased exports.

It also stated there is capital investment to convert dairy support land to dairying.

The decision noted that the company has previously invested in New Zealand.

In November 2015, the OIO approved an $18m sale of two farms on Domain Road in Oxford, Canterbury, which were combined to create a larger dairy farm.