Land Use Planning

Land use planning supports stewardship of cultural values, healthy ecosystems, and opportunities for economic activities by setting broad strategic land use direction for plan areas — providing clarity for ‘what’ can occur ‘where’ on public land and water.

Land use planning is an integral part of British Columbia’s system of natural resource stewardship. Land use planning:

  • addresses complex, strategic land use issues;
  • sets land use direction under a variety of legislative frameworks;
  • advances reconciliation and partnerships with First Nations;
  • fosters ecosystem health and conservation, including climate change resiliency; and
  • brings clarity for natural resource economic investment and development objectives.

Existing land use plans cover over 90 percent of public land in B.C. Most were completed in the 1990s and early 2000s. They require updates and modifications to reflect the current state of ecosystems and socio-economic landscapes and to include First Nations’ perspectives.

The B.C. government is modernizing land use planning in partnership with First Nations to ensure the responsible stewardship and management of land and resources that includes the unique values, perspectives, and knowledge of First Nations. The partnership approach is in alignment with B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act , and with B.C.’s commitment to reconciliation and a shared approach to land stewardship.

Land use planning is a transparent and inclusive process that involves engagement with local governments, stakeholders, industry, communities, and the public. It seeks to support the needs of a growing population and economy while promoting ecosystem health, biodiversity, and resilience in the face of emerging challenges, including cumulative effects and climate change.

Engagement is the process of gathering interests, ideas, and perspectives from various groups. It occurs throughout a project to ensure input is understood and considered in planning-related decisions and direction.

B.C.’s public service is committed to anti-racism and diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies to ensure all processes are free from discrimination. Racist or discriminatory comments received by planning teams throughout land use planning engagement periods will not be tolerated nor considered in the final planning outcomes.

Visit the B.C. government’s land use planning program homepage to learn more about provincial land use planning policy and guidance, completed provincial land use plans and legal direction, and spatial data.

Land Use Planning Process

Land use planning takes a phased approach that progressively builds recommended options, collecting and conducting analysis on key values identified and engaged on throughout the planning process. A land use planning process can be separated into four broad stages.

The Land Use Planning Phases, in order: the Pre-Planning and Initiation stage, the Plan Development stage, the Plan Evaluation and Approval stage, and the Implementation and Monitoring stage.

Pre-Planning and Initiation Stage

In this stage, government-to-government discussions are occurring, and land use issues are identified. Governments exchange and share perspectives on what is required to resolve challenges. These can be significant land use changes, more specific operational changes, or the need for interim measures to resolve issues. Governments also exchange ideas for improving land-based reconciliation, environmental opportunities, and sustainable economic activities. Collection of “base case” or status quo economic information, along with environmental information, is undertaken. A final decision is then made on whether land use planning is the correct approach. For the Province, a Cabinet and Treasury Board mandate is prepared for approval to move to the next planning stages.

Plan Development Stage

In this stage, agreements on process and information sharing are prepared, and co-developed baseline data continues to be collected. The base case socio-economic information continues to evolve as new information is received, and it’s used as a foundation against which new land use scenarios can be measured to assess changes. The planning partners then develop land use scenarios and options and undertake a detailed socio-economic environmental assessment to understand the magnitude and impacts, both positive and negative, of proposed shifts. Engagement plans are built, and engagement occurs with industry, stakeholders and groups, local governments, and the public throughout this phase. Interim protection measures also may be recommended by the planning teams for certain areas that may be subject to conservation area planning recommendations, in order to limit or prevent additional land tenures being acquired while the integrated land use plan is being developed.

Plan Evaluation and Approval Stage

Following assessments of stakeholder and public input by the planning partners, and weighing options against economic, environmental, and reconciliation objectives, a final recommendation is prepared for the partner governments to consider. The recommendation includes a jointly developed final land use plan with zones and direction for strategic land use activities, a fiscal plan for addressing implementation costs, and an outline of governance for the plan area by the Province and First Nation(s) in the area. The final land use plan must be approved by the Province and partner First Nation(s) before it moves to the next stage.

Implementation and Monitoring Stage

Following approval, the land use plan moves into the plan implementation stage. This is an ongoing process and may take years to fully implement as proper governance structures and legislation or regulation(s) are put in place to ensure that the planning partners’ shared vision is upheld and applied over time. The effectiveness of the plan is monitored by the Province and partner First Nation(s).

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