Role of the Agricultural Land Commission
The purposes of the ALC as set out in Section 6 of the Agricultural Land Commission Act are:
- to preserve agricultural land;
- to encourage farming on agricultural land in collaboration with other communities of interest;
- 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 commission, to fulfill its purposes must give priority to protecting and enhancing all of the following in exercising its powers and performing its duties under this Act:
- the size, integrity and continuity of the land base of the agricultural land reserve;
- the use of the agricultural land reserve for farm use.
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Operations & Governance
The work of the ALC is carried out by up to 19 Commission members appointed from six administrative regions of the province who are collectively the board of directors of the ALC.
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The Commissioners
The Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) is an independent administrative tribunal comprised of appointed Commissioners that are responsible for administering the ALC Act.
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Working with local governments
The ALC deals with approximately 150 local governments across BC with land in the ALR. The ALC supports coordinated and collaborative planning with local governments to ensure agricultural lands are protected.
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Working with Ministries and Agencies
The ALC is mandated to encourage others, including the provincial government and its agents, to take the interests of the ALR and the business of agriculture into account in the course of their program administration.
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Annual Reports
Annual Reports summarize the work of the Commission including annual ALR land area and decision statistics.
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ALR History
In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, nearly 6,000 hectares of prime agricultural land were being lost each year to urban and other uses. The provincial government responded to this erosion of the agricultural land base by introducing BC’s Land Commission Act on April 18, 1973.