Whereas local governments with land in the Agricultural Land Reserve ALR can observe land use that may not be in compliance with Agricultural Land Commission ALC regulations raising concerns about the integrity of the ALR, and the long-term viability of agricultural production; And whereas the Agricultural Land Commission currently has only eight compliance and enforcement staffincluding six officers, one advisor, and one supervisorwho are responsible for overseeing approximately 4.6 million hectares of ALR land across British Columbia, which is greatly insufficient given the growing enforcement challenges and land-use pressures: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM call on the provincial government to provide increased funding to the Agricultural Land Commission to significantly expand its compliance and enforcement team to improve oversight and reduce non-compliant land uses that threaten the integrity of agricultural land in British Columbia.
Ministry of Agriculture and Food The Province is committed to using all legal tools and resources available to address noncompliant land uses, including the enforcement and compliance authorities granted to the ALC under the Agricultural Land Commission Act ALCA. The ALC is an independent administrative tribunal responsible for addressing a range of offences on farmland. It has the authority to issue notices of contravention, stopwork orders, remediation orders, and administrative penalties to ensure compliance with the ALCA. While the ALCs compliance and enforcement activities are carried out independently from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food the Ministry, the Ministry is aware of ongoing challenges related to enforcement capacity and is actively exploring options to support improvements. In addition, certain landuse offences may fall under the Environmental Management Act, which is administered by the Ministry of Environment and Parks. The ALC and several local governments currently collaborate on joint enforcement initiativessuch as efforts to address illegal fill placement within the ALRwhich have resulted in administrative monetary penalties and remediation orders. The ALC continues to encourage local governments to engage directly with them to explore opportunities for additional joint initiatives that make the most effective use of available resources. Coordinated enforcement between the ALC and local governments is essential to the effective regulation of land use within the ALR. Each body brings distinct enforcement tools that, when used together, strengthen compliance efforts. Through continued cooperation, the ALC and local governments can work toward their shared goal of protecting the integrity of the ALR for current and future generations.