Crown Land: Indicators and Statistics - Ministry of Forests

Report Highlights
Land and Resources
There are four broad types of land ownership in BC:
private land, First Nations treaty settlement land,
provincial Crown land, and federal Crown land. In
BC, the majority of the land base is provincial Crown
land. Relative to other provinces, BC has the second
highest percentage of provincial Crown land at 94%.
BC also has the second largest area of provincial
Crown land in Canada with 88.7 million hectares.
This vast land base is highly diverse. Vegetative cover
varies significantly between types of land ownership.
Forest cover makes up 67% of Crown land, but
just 22% of private land. Between sub-regions,
variations are also apparent: the Cariboo sub-region
has the highest proportion of forest cover at almost
80%, while the Skeena sub-region has the highest
proportion of alpine areas at 21%. Economic uses of
land also vary according to ownership type: 33% of
private land is covered by agriculture and range land
compared with less than 1% for Crown land.
Socio-Economic Activity
BC’s population has been gradually increasing over
the past century and population projections indicate
moderate growth will continue. Population growth
has been concentrated in urban centres in the southwest
of the province where a diverse economic base
exists (e.g. South Coast +6.7%, 2001 to 2006).
Population declines in parts of northern BC (e.g.
Skeena -7.1%, 2001 to 2006) are partly a result of
less economic diversity in the north coupled with
declining economic activity in the dominant natural
resource sectors such as forestry. With the exception
of the Peace sub-region, unemployment rates in 2006
also tended to be highest in the north (e.g. Skeena
12.4% compared to 5.6% on the South Coast).
Many economic sectors rely on provincial Crown
land to support their activities. In 2006, over 9% of
provincial GDP was produced on Crown land; with
5% directly on Land Act tenured Crown land. Overall,
the forestry, utilities, energy and mining sectors are
most heavily dependent on Crown land: just over
80% of their GDP is produced on Crown land and
in 2006 they accounted for 8.1% of the Province’s
total GDP. Some economic activities, such as mining
and agriculture, require exclusive use of Crown land.
Other economic activities, such as public recreation
and tourism, are compatible with non-exclusive
use of land. The most economic output generated
on Land Act tenured Crown land is from (in order)
energy, utilities and pipelines, mining, tourism, and
agriculture and aquaculture.
On average, between 2000 and 2009, provincial
government revenue from natural resources
accounted for about 13% of total annual provincial
government revenue (mainly from petroleum, natural
gas, minerals, forestry and water resources). Revenues
from Land Act tenures and sales averaged 2% of
total natural resource revenues (60% from tenures
and 40% from land sales). In 2008/09 government
revenue was $75 million, with 70% from tenure
rents and royalties, 28% from sales, and 2% from
fees. From 2003 to 2009, Crown land tenure revenue
has come mainly from: energy and mining (38%),
agriculture (11%), manufacturing and commercial
(11%), tourism and accommodation (9%), and
utilities and pipelines (9%). Crown land sales revenue
has mainly come from: residential (51%), agriculture
(22%), and manufacturing and commercial (15%).
Land Use Direction and Objectives
Many positive outcomes have been realized through
strategic land and resource planning in BC: ecological
features identified and preserved; unique cultural
values protected; economic diversity increased;
land-based conflicts resolved; and First Nations
interests recognized. During the planning process,
the interests and needs of stakeholders are identified,
land use policies are defined, resource management
strategies and zones are developed, and legal land
use objectives are established.
Strategic land and resource plans can encompass
large regions, sub-regions or landscape-unit-sized
Ministry of
Forests, Lands and
Natural Resource Operations
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