Commission Role and Services

Vision, Mission and Values

Vision

A land base in British Columbia reserved for farming.

Mission

Preserve agricultural land and encourage and enable farm businesses throughout British Columbia.

Values

The Commission is committed to the following values:

• Integration — Policies and programs foster long-term sustainability by considering a range of economic, social and environmental values.
• Accountability and fairness — The Commission sets performance standards, monitors compliance and reports on progress. The Commission acts fairly and in the public interest.
• Transparency — The Commission establishes open processes; the bases of all decisions are public information.
• Science and knowledge — Agricultural Land Reserve boundaries and decisions are based on biophysical criteria, local knowledge and site specific circumstances.
• Responsiveness — In carrying out its responsibilities, the Commission considers the needs of farmers, landowners, applicants, First Nations, local governments and others.
• Shared Responsibility — The Commission strives to develop positive working relationships with local governments, First Nations and others and to ensure consultation with all stakeholders in its decisions and activities.
• Certainty — The Commission makes clear and timely decisions within a predictable and understandable regulatory framework.

Commission Overview

The Agricultural Land Commission is the provincial agency responsible for administering the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), a provincial land use zone in favour of agriculture. The purposes of the Commission are:

(a) to preserve agricultural land;

(b) to encourage farming on agricultural land in collaboration with other communities of interest; and

(c) to encourage local governments, First Nations, the government and its agents to enable and accommodate farm use of agricultural land and uses compatible with agriculture in their plans, bylaws and policies.

The Agricultural Land Commission Act sets out processes for land use approvals including the inclusion or removal of land from the ALR and non-farm uses and subdivisions of land within the ALR. The Act is supported by the Agricultural Land Reserve Use, Subdivision and Procedure Regulation, which details procedures for applications and defines permitted land uses and land subdivisions within the ALR.

The Act is administered by a government-appointed Commission consisting of 19 members including a Chair. The Commission operates as six panels for geographical regions of the province, including:

Island Panel — responsible for the Alberni-Clayoquot, Capital, Comox-Strathcona, Cowichan Valley, Mount Waddington and Nanaimo Regional Districts and the Islands Trust.

South Coastal Panel — responsible for the Fraser Valley, Greater Vancouver, Powell River, Squamish-Lillooet and Sunshine Coast Regional Districts.

Okanagan Panel — responsible for the Central Okanagan, Columbia Shuswap, North Okanagan and Okanagan-Similkameen Regional Districts.

Kootenay Panel — responsible for the Central Kootenay, East Kootenay and Kootenay-Boundary Regional Districts.

Interior Panel — responsible for the Cariboo, Central Coast and Thompson-Nicola Regional Districts.

North Panel — responsible for the Bulkley-Nechako, Fraser-Fort George, Kitimat-Stikine, Northern Rockies, Peace River and Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional Districts.

Each panel has three members including a Vice-chair. The Commission is supported by a staff of 20 full time equivalent employees (FTE's).

The business of the Commission is carried out through three functional areas:

Land Use Planning and Application Processing

The Commission reviews and decides applications under the Agricultural Land Commission Act and enforces compliance with the Act and regulations. In addition to deciding land use applications under the Act, the Commission reviews plans and bylaws of local governments and other agencies to ensure that the ALR is properly identified and that the policies are supportive of the ALR and farmland preservation. The Commission works with many stakeholders including individuals, farm organizations, local governments and First Nations to support farm development and to remove unnecessary obstacles to farm expansion in their areas.

Strategic Planning and Corporate Policy

The Commission develops strategies, plans and policies to achieve the goals and objectives set out in the Service Plan. The Commission also participates in the agricultural planning and policy initiatives of other ministries, agencies and local governments.

Administration and Information Systems

The above two functions are supported by an administration, records management and information systems unit. This includes maintenance of an application database and ALR maps for the province.

Commission Operating Context

The Commission is accountable to the Minister of Sustainable Resource Management and utilizes many of the ministry's corporate and administrative services. Members, including the Chair, are appointed by the government. However, the Commission operates with a high degree of independence within the framework provided by the Agricultural Land Commission Act. The Commission has exclusive authority to make decisions within its jurisdiction and its decisions are not subject to appeal.

The Commission carries out its work within a dynamic environment involving many different interests. In order to achieve its goals, the Commission must forge effective relationships with stakeholders and participants in the process, including local governments, landowners, First Nations, non-government organizations and a number of provincial and federal ministries and agencies.

The Commission, with its partners, must respond to a number of challenges. The key strategic challenge facing the Commission is urban growth pressures, particularly within the lower mainland, increasing pressure on local governments and the Commission to allow the conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural development. Three high-growth regions of the Province contain 81 per cent of the population; these same areas generate 81 per cent of BC's gross farm receipts.

The task of resisting growth pressure is made more difficult by events within the agricultural sector such as the restriction on beef exports to the United States. The short-term impacts of such occurrences on agricultural markets creates uncertainty among farmers and discourages investment in agriculture and agricultural infrastructure. Some farmers may choose to divest themselves from agriculture and seek to convert some or all of their land to non-farm uses.

In addition to the strategic challenges, the Commission has identified a need to:

• Build its enforcement capabilities and improve overall compliance within the Agricultural Land Reserve through partnerships with local governments and other agencies.
• Update its mapping system and application database to provide timely and accurate information to the public and to decision makers, including the Commission panels.

New Era Commitments

In 2001, the government made a number of commitments covering the whole spectrum of government business. One commitment applied specifically to the Agricultural Land Commission.