ALR BLOCK EXCLUSION (2025)

OVERVIEW

The Town of Osoyoos contains approximately 326.7 hectares of lands within the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). While 138.24 hectares of the ALR land base is designated as Agriculture under the Town of Osoyoos Official Community Plan (OCP) Bylaw No. 1375, 2021, a majority of the ALR land base has been designated for non-agricultural land uses.

In reviewing the ALR lands within the Town’s municipal boundaries, a number of parcels have been identified as:

• having non-agricultural land use designations under the Town of Osoyoos OCP Bylaw No. 1375, 2021; and/or
• being historically or currently not being used for agricultural purposes.

Agricultural Land Commission & Agricultural Land Reserve

Lands within the ALR are subject to the Agricultural Land Commission Act, Agricultural Land Reserve Use Regulation, and Agricultural Land Reserve General Regulation.

Subdivision and the undertaking of non-farm uses on ALR lands generally requires the approval of the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC).

The Agricultural Land Reserve Use Regulation specifies the land uses which are permitted within the ALR, and any non-farm use which is not explicitly permitted within the ALR would require the submission of an application to the ALC, and subsequent approval, in order to be carried out on a parcel of land. 

In this regard, although a property may be zoned for non-agricultural purposes, and a use may be permitted within a particular zone as specified under the Town of Osoyoos Zoning Bylaw No. 1395, 2024, if the use is not permitted within the ALR per the ALR Use Regulation, the property owner would require ALC approval to undertake that use. 

For more information on the ALC and ALR, please visit: https://www.alc.gov.bc.ca/

PROPOSAL

It is being proposed that the Town of Osoyoos submit an application to the ALC to exclude lands within 69 parcels from the ALR.

The primary goal of the proposed exclusion of the subject lands from the ALR is to provide clearer direction to and remove unnecessary administrative burdens from property owners which may unknowingly own or acquire non-agricultural ALR parcels within the Town.

A list and map of the properties proposed for exclusion can be found below.

TAX IMPLICATIONS

Properties within the ALR may be eligible for a 50% exemption from school taxes under the School Act. School taxes are collected by municipalities, on behalf of the Province, as part of annual property taxes. 

According to Section 130(1) of the School Act, this eligibility is based on whether the property has farm classification (Class 9) and/or is subject to development restrictions under the ALC Act and is either vacant/unused or used for a farm/residential purpose.

If a property has been benefiting from the ALR school tax exemption, the exclusion of that property from the ALR would make the property ineligible for that exemption in the future.

Additionally, as it relates to the proposed block exclusion, it is understood that impact considerations on property assessment would include:

• Whether an above-noted ALR tax exemption currently applies (and would no longer apply following exclusion);
• Allowable uses (i.e., how a property could potentially be used based on zoning);
• Property classification (i.e., how the property is being used).

Given that applicability of the ALR school tax exemption and the extent of its impact, as well as the impacts of ALR status on property assessment, vary on a property-by-property basis, it is recommended that affected property owners contact BC Assessment to better understand the impacts of the proposed exclusion on school tax exemption eligibility and property assessment for their specific property(ies).
BC Assessment

PROJECT STATUS

For more information please contact the Planning and Development Services Department: 
plan@osoyoos.ca