Ministry Overview

The Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management (MSRM) was created in 2001 with a mandate to promote a vibrant economy through the sustainable development of BC's natural resources while maintaining environmental integrity. The ministry's role is unique as most natural resources in British Columbia are owned by the Crown and largely developed by private interests. As a consequence, much of MSRM's work concerns setting strategic policies and developing plans for the optimal use of Crown land and resources for all British Columbians, now and in the future.

Services

The ministry consists of four divisions with approximately 730 staff serving British Columbians in all parts of the province. The ministry provides the following three interrelated types of services for its clients:

1. Develops resource-management plans, including land-use and resource-sector plans, to provide for sustainable economic development of the province's land and resources;

2. Provides efficient and effective collection, storage, access to and analysis of registry, resource and geographic information to improve the identification of business investment opportunities and for the management of natural resources; and

3. Develops principles, strategic policies and legislation to guide sustainable resource management including the allocation and pricing of natural resources and related information. The ministry also administers the first steps in the property appeal process and manages contaminated sites on provincial lands.

The ministry is also committed to organizational excellence by providing corporate support services, including administrative, financial and human resource management, to its staff, as well as a high level of professional services to its clients.

Clients

Principal clients include related provincial ministries and corporations, federal and local governments, First Nations, resource businesses, the academic community and non-profit organizations. Many of the ministry's land and resource plans and policies are implemented through other ministries and agencies such as Land and Water British Columbia Inc. The ministry's integrated registries, resource and geographic information and business services are used directly by both private and public clients.

The ministry primarily impacts six major industry sectors: forestry; tourism; mining; oil, gas and energy extraction; agriculture and aquaculture. These sectors directly account for about 17 per cent of British Columbia's gross domestic product¹. It also impacts other industry sectors to a lesser degree such as telecommunications, real estate and transportation. Together, these two groups of clients directly account for 32 per cent of the provincial GDP.

Outcomes

Implementing this service plan and achieving its performance targets will benefit British Columbians by increasing the level of certainty required for the optimal development of land and resources in the province. In doing so, the ministry will deliver outcomes supporting the government's strategic goals as shown in Figure 1 on page 18. The emphasis is on promoting economic development, revitalizing investment and creating jobs while maintaining key environmental values.

Enabling Legislation

The ministry administers key legislation such as the Land Act, the Water Act and the Land Title Act. For a full list of legislation administered by MSRM, please see the 2002/03 annual service plan report at the following Web site:

http://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/Annual_Reports/2002_2003/srm/srm_
appendixb.htm