Vancouver Island Land Use Plan

Last updated on December 21, 2017

The Vancouver Island Land Use Plan represents the first time that comprehensive land use planning had been done on a regional scale in B.C. The planning concluded years of public debate over critical land use issues on Vancouver Island.

The impetus for the Vancouver Island Land Use Plan was the creation of the Commission on Resources and the Environment (CORE) in 1992 followed by the B.C. government's endorsement of the commission’s proposed Land Use Charter, with its requirements for environmental, social and economic sustainability.

Subsequent to CORE Commissioner Stephen Owen's report, Vancouver Island Land Use Plan, submitted in February 1994, the B.C. government announced the Vancouver Island Land Use Decision in June 1994. 

Due to the novelty of that regional land use planning decision, implementation of Vancouver Island Land Use Plan’s final recommendations took time. In 1995, the B.C. government endorsed a final set of boundaries for new Goal 1 protected areas, and in 1996, made a decision on special feature (Goal 2) protected areas. 

In December 1997, the B.C. government released three reports (which were key to implementation) for public review:

  • Resource Management Zones for Vancouver Island
  • Planning Framework Statements for Vancouver Island’s Special Management Zones
  • Planning Framework Statements for Vancouver Island’s Marine Planning Units

Public feedback on each of these reports led to a number of changes and the final outcomes were incorporated into the Vancouver Island Summary Land Use Plan (2000).
 

 

 

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Vancouver Island Region
Map of Vancouver Island Plan Area

Plan Type: Regional land use plan
Plan Status: Approved, legally established
Plan Area: 3,253,593 hectares
Natural Resource Region: West Coast
Natural Resource Districts: South Island, Campbell River, North Island - Central Coast
Timber Supply Areas: Arrowsmith, Strathcona, Kingcome, Pacific

Landscape Level Plans

View West Coast Region landscape level plans.

Contact information

Contact us if you have questions about land use planning in the Vancouver Island region.

Mailing
Suite 142 - 2080 Labieux Road, Nanaimo BC V9T 6J9