If you're applying for contaminated site services, you may need to pay a fee before the ministry reviews your application. Fees follow a "user pays" and "polluter pays" approach. This means the person or organization responsible for the contamination covers the cost of remediation.
Fees for most contaminated sites services are increasing on July 1, 2026. Applications received as of this date will be charged the new rate.
Review the Contaminated Sites Regulations 2026 Fee Updates guidance document
Read this page so you understand:
Note: You may need to prepay application fees, depending on the type. If you don't pay, the ministry cannot process your application.
Fees for most contaminated sites services are increasing on July 1, 2026.
Fees for site remediation services were introduced in 1997 and were last reviewed in 2007. Since that time, demand for site remediation services has increased, along with the time needed to manage complex submissions.
This change includes:
The new fee structure expands flat-rate fee categories that make costs clearer and easier to understand.
For a detailed summary of fee updates and service descriptions, download the ministry fees guidance document.
The new fees are outlined in Schedule 3 of the Contaminated Sites Regulation. Find general information about the changes, below:
The following changes were made to Table 1:
For more information, review the ministry fees guidance document and:
You will now be charged a flat-rate fee for most applications. Fees are based on the service you request. This reflects the typical time it takes for the ministry to process a request.
Fees vary by service and range from $1,000 to $30,000 depending on the complexity of the request.
The hourly "fee credit" system is no longer used. You will not be charged for additional hours.
Important: Flat-rate fees must be paid before work begins.
Services listed as compliance verification activities and additional ministry services that take less than 75 hours are charged the applicable fee for the period of time required. Fees range from $1000 to $20,000 and are determined once the work is complete.
For more information, review the ministry fees guidance document and:
Services in Table 3 of Schedule 3 are charged hourly at a rate of $300 per hour.
This applies to compliance verification activities or additional ministry services that take 75 hours or more within a fiscal year
For more information, review the ministry fees guidance document and:
You must make sure your application is complete before submitting it. Incomplete applications will not be processed. If your application is rejected by a director, you will be charged 50% of the original application fee when you reapply for the same service.
Most applications for non-high risk sites must be submitted to the CSAP Society for preliminary review before they go to the ministry. The CSAP Society collects fees for:
Fees vary by application type. Visit CSAP's pay fees page for more information.
You can pay for ministry services using:
If you applied for flat rate services listed in Schedule 3 Table 2 of the CSR, you'll receive a government-issued invoice.
The invoice must be paid before those services are provided. This information ensures payment is applied to your invoice.
Once the deposit is confirmed, payment will be applied to the outstanding balance.
Services are on hold for outstanding invoices.
Pay by EFT or wire transfer
When you receive an invoice, notify Revenue Services by email at RevenueNRSector@gov.bc.ca.
A staff person will give you information on how to use the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)/Wire service. Emailing Revenue Services helps make sure your payment is applied to the correct invoice.
After speaking with the branch, you'll send them a second email, which includes:
Pay by cheque
Send the cheque by mail or courier. The cheque must be made payable to:
You must include:
Financial Services Branch, Corporate Services Division
PO BOX 9356
4th Floor, 2975 Jutland Road
Victoria, B.C.
V8W 9M2
Financial Services Branch, Corporate Services Division
4th Floor, 2975 Jutland Road
Victoria, B.C.
V8T 5J9
If you have questions about cheque payments, contact the client information officer.