Soil relocation
Last updated on November 7, 2025Soil excavation and removal can be necessary for many types of projects, including commercial and industrial site upgrades or property redevelopment.
Following legally required processes helps track soil relocation across B.C. to make sure there's no harm to the environment, and reduces the amount of non-waste soil being deposited in landfills. Source and receiving site owners who plan to move non-waste soil off a property, or receive non-waste soil from a property must follow all legal requirements.
Read the legislation for details:
The Soil Relocation Information System (SRIS) is a database that tracks soil relocation activity in B.C. The SRIS is comprised of:
- A Soil Relocation Sitemap
- A Soil Relocation Dashboard
Need help? Watch the instructional video to learn how to use SRIS.
On this page
- Moving non-waste soil from a Schedule 2 site
- Determine if you need to complete a Soil Relocation Notification Form
- Complete a Soil Relocation Notification Form
- Receiving non-waste soil from a site
- High volume sites
- Other factors to consider when relocating soil
Moving non-waste soil from a Schedule 2 site
Non-waste soil, for the purpose of soil relocation, is from a source site with a current or former CSR Schedule 2 use and which satisfies criteria for both soil and vapour. Learn steps to take when you move non-waste soil to a new location.
Find out if a site has had Schedule 2 commercial or industrial use
A Schedule 2 site is a parcel of land where certain industrial or commercial activities have occurred, either in the past or present. Schedule 2 uses can increase the risk of contamination at a site.
Find out if your site has, or has had a Schedule 2 use.
Check the soil quality
You must test the soil at your site if it has past Schedule 2 uses. Testing will determine whether the soil meets the soil and vapour criteria that makes it non-waste with respect to the receiving site.
Soil and vapour sampling must be assessed or supervised by a Qualified Professional (QP). They can help you understand if your soil meets soil and vapour criteria at the receiving site. Assessments must happen according to Protocol 19.
There are some circumstances when an entire source site does not need to be sampled for soil relocation. This guidance helps to determine where soil quality information is required.
Soil criteria
To classify soil as non-waste, the substances it contains must meet at least one of the following criteria specific to the receiving site:
- Land use standards outlined in CSR Schedule 3.1
- The standards derived under Protocol 2 (PDF, 550KB)
- The background concentrations established under Protocol 4: Establishing Local Background Concentrations in Soil (Revised) (PDF, 967KB)
You do not have to have soil tested if there is an exemption under Protocol 19: Site Investigation Protocol (PDF, 320KB).
Vapour criteria
Substances in vapour must meet the conditions in CSR Schedule 3.3.
Vapour does not have to be analyzed if:
- There is an exemption under Protocol 19, or
- There are no detectable amounts of volatile chlorinated substances in the soil or,
- Substances meet the low density residential land use standards in Schedule 3.1. of the CSR
Information for qualified professionals
Qualified professionals should reference Technical Guidance 4: Vapour Investigation and Remediation (PDF, 358KB) to determine the soil quality classification.
After soil testing is complete
The results of a soil investigation will tell you whether the soil at a site contains any potential contaminants of concern (PCOCs) and meets appropriate CSR land use standards.
If the soil at your site is deemed non-waste and you plan to relocate it
- You must complete a Soil Relocation Notification Form and submit it to the ministry. A qualified professional must do this for you.
If the soil at your site is deemed waste
Soil that is waste may require a waste discharge authorization to be moved to a receiving site.
Read more in legislation:
- Part 2: Environmental Management Act
Determine if you need to complete a Soil Relocation Notification form
A Soil Relocation Notification form is required when:
- A site has been used for one of the industrial or commercial uses listed in Schedule 2: Contaminated Sites Regulation, and
-
A Soil Relocation Notification is not required when:
- The site has never had a Schedule 2 use
- The soil is considered waste, or
- An exemption applies to the site
Before completing a Soil Relocation Notification form
Find a qualified professional
- Hire a qualified professional to fill out and sign the Soil Relocation Notification form for you.
Some sites may be exempt from the requirement to submit a Soil Relocation Notification form if:
- Soil volume from a site is less than 30 cubic metres per project
- This exemption does not apply to sites classified as high risk under Protocol 12
- A 'project' includes activities where a single-source site requires many soil relocations to a single receiving site for a period of up to 2 years
- The receiving site is:
- Authorized to receive non-waste soil under the EMA by permit or approval, waste management plan or the regulations. This includes licensed landfills
- Outside of B.C.
- On federal land, other than a reserve within the meaning of the Indian Act (Canada)
- The source site is a quarry that was used for Schedule 2 uses, where the soil was removed under a valid Mines Act permit and is not contaminated by industrial, commercial or other sources
- Soil is winter maintenance sand or preload that came from a site that had a low-impact land use
- You obtained a Certificate of Compliance or a Final Determination for your site. This only applies if:
- The site hasn't become contaminated since the certification document was issued, and
- Soil and vapour concentrations at the site don't contain substances above the standards for the site the soil is being relocated to
Complete a Soil Relocation Notification form
The Soil Relocation Notification form must be completed by a qualified professional and submitted 7 days before the project start date.
All parts of the form must be complete. Any parts of the form with an asterisk (*) must be filled in and all required attachments provided. Qualified professionals can put up to 3 receiving sites on the form. Further instructions for filling out the form are provided below.
How to fill out a Soil Relocation Notification Form
To access the Soil Relocation Notification form, you must register for a Basic BCeID account
Once registered, you can complete a Soil Relocation Notification form online.
To fill out the form you will need:
Source and Receiving Site Information
- Contact information for the owners of the source and receiving sites
- If the site owner is a company, provide the name of an appropriate company representative
- If the site is on reserve land, enter the First Nation as owner
- If there is more than one site owner, check the box “Are there additional owners?” Enter the contact info of the additional owner in the fields that appear.
- If the site contact is not the same as the site owner, check “No” and fill out the fields with the site contact’s name and contact information. For reserve lands, enter the site operator.
- Street addresses for the source and receiving sites
- If no address has been assigned, provide the nearest street name or intersection
- Latitude and longitude coordinates in degrees, minutes, seconds (DMS) format for the centre of the source and receiving sites
- Coordinates must be accurate to 0.5 of a second. To find coordinates of a site, check municipal websites, iMapBC, ParcelMap BC or Google Earth
- Parcel details and use information for the source and receiving sites
- For titled property, provide the site parcel identifier (PID) and associated legal description. Find PIDs on municipal property tax statements, or online using the BC Assessment website or the BC Land Title and Survey website.
- For untitled Crown land, provide the Parcel Identification Number (PIN) and associated legal description. Look-up information on Crown lands using the Government Access Tool for Online Retrieval (GATOR)
- For untitled municipal land, provide the legal description
- For reserve land, provide the reserve name and number
Soil Description Information:
- The volume and quality of the soil being relocated
- Provide volume in cubic meters
- Determine soil quality by comparing soil and vapour characterization to the CSR standards for the receiving site
- If an exemption under Protocol 19 applies, include the details regarding the exemption
- Soil analytical data (unless exempt under Protocol 19), including:
- Description of the characterization method, which must meet the requirements of Protocol 19: Site Investigation Protocol.
- Summary of the substances characterized and their concentration in soil
- Laboratory certificates of analysis
- Summary tables comparing the substance concentrations to the applicable CSR standards
- Vapour analytical data (unless exempted under section 41(4) of the CSR), including:
- Description of the characterization method
- Summary of the substances characterized and their concentration in soil
- Laboratory certificates of analysis
- Summary tables comparing the substance concentrations to the applicable CSR standards
- Start date, estimated completion date, and method for the relocation
- Start date must be at least 1 week but no more than 2 years before the soil is relocated
Making changes after you submit the form
To make changes to a previous Soil Relocation Notification submission:
- Contact the Soil Relocation Team at SoilRelocation@gov.bc.ca referencing your confirmation number in your email
The one-week period resets from the new date of resubmission.
Receiving non-waste soil from a site
A receiving site accepts soil from a source site and reuses it. Examples of reusing soil at a receiving site include:
- Backfilling an excavation
- Constructing a berm or stormwater management pond
Soil relocation is a one-time transaction. Once the soil is deposited at the receiving site, any further relocation of that material would constitute a new relocation project.
If soil is accepted at a transitory receiving site, and then moved to a secondary receiving site:
- The transitory receiving site becomes the new source site if it has a CSR Schedule 2 use
- The legislative requirements for source sites now apply to the transitory location
- If the activities at the transitory location have not impacted the quality of the soil, characterization of the soil may not be required.
- Review Protocol 19: Site Investigation Protocol (PDF, 320KB) for more information.
High-volume sites
Receiving sites that accept more than 20,000 cubic metres of commercial or industrial quality soil in their lifetime are called "high-volume sites." These sites must be registered with the ministry. Sites classified as high-volume before March 1, 2023 do not have to follow this requirement unless they received 20,000 cubic metres or more of soil on or after that date
Register a high-volume site with the ministry
- Before you register, check if any exemptions apply.
- Complete a High-Volume Receiving Site Registration Form. This must be filled out, signed and submitted by a qualified professional.
- Have a qualified professional prepare a Soil Management Plan that outlines:
- How the managed soil will be appropriately contained so that substances in soil do not migrate off-site
- Procedures for tracking the source sites where the soil came from, and the locations at the receiving site where the soil was deposited
- Procedures for seasonal groundwater monitoring
- A plan for closure of the high-volume site
- The site cannot be closed until it has stopped accepting commercial or industrial quality soil, and
- An Approved Professional has provided a written opinion that the substances in the managed soil are stable and monitoring is no longer required
- Once a soil management plan is prepared, it must be implemented under the supervision of a qualified professional. You must keep a soil management plan for at least 10 years after the high volume site is closed.
The requirements for high-volume site registration do not apply in some circumstances, including:
- The site is an authorized waste management facility under Part 2 of the EMA
- The soil is relocated to the high-volume site before March 1, 2023
- However, if more soil is brought to the site after this date, it's subject to the high-volume site provisions. For example, if a high-volume site receives both residential and commercial quality soil, the site will not need to register until the volume of commercial quality soil exceeds 20,000 m3
- The soil and vapour meet the following land use standards in CSR Schedule 3.1 and 3.3:
- Residential high density
- Residential low density
- Urban park
- Agricultural
- Wildlands, reverted
- Wildlands, natural
- Relocation of soil for use in construction or maintenance, including:
- Highways
- Transit systems
- Pipelines
- Sewage collection systems
- Underground drainage collection systems
- Water distribution systems
- Electricity transmission or distribution systems
- Telecommunications lines or towers
- Right of ways required for infrastructure described in items above
- Dikes, green shores or other structures constructed to prevent flooding or erosion
This exemption does not apply if:
- The soil contains an organic substance with a concentration greater than the CSR Schedule 3.1 standards for low-impact land use
- The high-volume site is within 10m of a watercourse or body of water, or within 10m of a ditch, spring or wetland connected to a watercourse or body of water
Other factors to consider when relocating soil
Archaeological Sites
Archaeological sites may be encountered when relocating or characterizing soil. Many archaeological sites in B.C. are culturally sensitive, contain ancestral remains, and have important sacred and spiritual value to First Nations in B.C.
Examples of archaeological sites include:
- Remains of ancient villages and cemeteries
- Hunting and food processing sites
- Stone tool manufacturing areas
- Culturally-modified trees
- Ancient rock art
- Shell midden
Find out if your property contains a protected archaeological site by:
- Talking to your local government
OR
- Submitting an Archaeological Information Request for free:
OR
- Contracting a private consulting archaeologist
If there is presence or possibility of an archaeological site, you will receive a report and information on next steps.
For more information on archaeology in B.C., read this brochure.
For further information on archaeological sites and the rules associated with them, visit the archaeology in B.C. webpage.
First Nations Engagement
It is important to engage with First Nations in preparation for soil relocation. Persons relocating soil are encouraged to review the Consultative Areas Database public map service to find out the First Nation’s lands located in the area of a source or receiving site and to engage with the local First Nations on the prospective soil relocation.
Invasive Species
Invasive species may be encountered when relocating or characterizing soil. It is important to be aware of the potential presence of invasive species in soil to help control the spread of them. Examples of invasive species include invasive plants (e.g., noxious weeds) Psuedogymnoascus destructans (Pd) the fungus that causes white nose syndrome in bats.
Invasive plants have the capacity to establish quickly and easily on both disturbed and un-disturbed sites, and can cause widespread economic, social and environmental impacts. For information on invasive plants and how to control their spread read Weeds_Roads_BMP_Guide-2019-web.pdf (bcinvasives.ca).
The best way to avoid human caused Pd spread through soil relocation is by reducing the movement of soil that may contain spores. Avoid moving soil to or from caves or mine sites. Keep soil transfer local, to further reduce the low probability of spreading Pd spores to new regions. This is particularly relevant if the soil to be relocated is from sites with potential Pd bat droppings. This includes soil from around buildings and bridges with known or suspect bat roosting habitat.
There are some circumstances when an entire source site does not need to be sampled for soil relocation as per Protocol 19: Site Investigation and Reporting. Four scenarios where sampling of an entire legal parcel is not necessary include:
Large Legal Parcels
The site or sampling area is a portion of a large, single legal parcel and the site boundaries are a maximum of 100 m from the outer boundary of the Schedule 2 use. If the site has a current or historic Schedule 2 use, characterization and notification are necessary as per the Environmental Management Act (EMA) section 55(1.1). Outside of the site or sampling area (more than 100 m from the outer boundary of the Schedule 2 use), characterization and notification are not necessary as per EMA section 55(1.1). See illustration of this scenario below.
Operations Spanning Multiple Legal Parcels
The site or sampling area is the legal parcel containing the current or historic Schedule 2 use. Since the site has a current or historic Schedule 2 use, characterization and notification is necessary as per EMA section 55(1.1). Characterization and notification would be necessary if relocating soil from the parcel with the Schedule 2 use to the parcel(s) without any Schedule 2 uses, even though it is the same facility and owned or operated by the same entity. See illustration of this scenario below.
Subdivided Legal Parcels
The site or sampling area is a current legal parcel that was once part of a larger legal parcel that was subdivided. Since the site has a current or historic Schedule 2 use, characterization and notification is required as per EMA section 55(1.1). Since the site (original legal parcel) had a Schedule 2 use, a release notice or certification document would be necessary to complete subdivision, which would require investigation. This would identify contaminant migration from the Schedule 2 use to the non-Schedule 2 parcel, if present. Characterization and notification would be necessary if relocating soil from the subdivided parcel that contains/contained the Schedule 2 use to the parcel(s) without any Schedule 2 uses. See illustration of this scenario below.
Amalgamated Legal Parcels
When two or more legal parcels are amalgamated to make one new legal parcel, the site or sampling area is the original parcel boundary with a current or historic Schedule 2 use. Characterization and notification are only necessary as per EMA section 55(1.1) on the portion of the new legal parcel that had a Schedule 2 use. See illustration of this scenario below.
