Adventure Tourism / Commercial Recreation

Commercial recreation, often called nature-based or adventure tourism, provides residents and visitors with access to British Columbia's natural environment through a variety of guided outdoor activities.

Specifically, commercial recreation is defined as outdoor recreational activities provided on a fee-for-service basis, with a focus on experiences associated with the natural environment.

Crown lands have been used for commercial recreation for more than 100 years. Before 1998 there was no policy to regulate commercial recreation use on Crown land except for mechanized ski guiding and commercial hunting and fishing activities.

In 1998, after eight years of industry and stakeholder consultation, the Province of British Columbia (the Province) adopted a commercial recreation management program that required existing and new recreation operators to acquire tenures for the provincial Crown lands they needed or were already utilizing.

The policy now includes a wide variety of activities. Some examples are:

• nature viewing;
• river rafting;
• sea kayaking;
• horse pack trips;
• off-road cycling tours;
• heli-hiking; and
• cross-country skiing.

Tenure Rights

The Commercial Recreation Program is unique in that it provides two kinds of access to Crown land:

• general permission to operate on extensive areas of Crown land for a specific purpose; and
• authority to build improvements (e.g. a campsite) on specific sites to support the operation.

Commercial recreation tenures usually do not convey exclusive rights to extensive areas of Crown land.

The public may use the same land specified in the tenure agreement for non-commercial purposes.

The Province may also issue commercial tenures to other operators for the same land.

However, tenure holders who erect structures on the tenure with the Province''s authorization may be granted exclusive right to use those improvements.

The Province's role includes ensuring tenure holders are meeting their legal and management requirements.

Application Documents

Applications for land tenures should be made to the FrontCounterBC office nearest you.

The following documents should be reviewed prior to submitting your application:

• Commercial Recreation Policy (1.62mb)
• Complete Application Package (2.0 mb) which includes:
  • Requirements Checklist (156kb)
  • Application Form (228kb) (Word (206kb)
  • Application Form Guide (205kb)
  • Application Fees
  • Management Plan Template and Maps
• Sample Management Plan and Maps
• Sample Letter of Agency (109kb)
• Sample Site Maps

Fees, Rents and Other Costs

An application fee, as outlined in the Land Tenure Purpose and Application Fees schedule (effective June 1, 2003), is required when submitting an application.

Successful applicants also pay annual rental fees. Permits are normally issued for 2 years; licences are normally issued for 10 years.

Tenure-holders are required to obtain liability insurance. Applicants may also be required to:

• advertise the application in local newspapers and the BC Gazette and undertake other consultation as required;
• post a security deposit; and/or
• undertake studies to address concerns raised by First Nations, government agencies, the public and other stakeholders.

Application and Decision

The Commercial Recreation industry is complex. An application requires the submission of detailed information on:

• the proposed activity/activities;
• where and when the activity/activities will occur;
• other users on the same site;
• resource and environmental values; and
• how any negative impacts can be minimized.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to:

• review the Commercial Recreation Application Information available at Regional offices; and/or
• download a copy of the policy for Commercial Recreation on Crown Land Policy (1.62mb) ; and
• download the application documents identified in the Requirements Checklist (156kb).

The review, consultation, assessment and resolution of an application can include:

• public input based on widespread interest in the criteria when awarding commercial recreation tenures;
• consultation with a number of agencies, local interests and First Nations.

The most common reason for delay is submission of an incomplete application, which is then returned to the applicant. To ensure an application is processed as quickly as possible be sure to complete all the required documents as identified in the Requirements Checklist (156kb) and submit the required Application Fee.

If your application is accepted, you will be notified if Advertising (147kb) is required. Please wait for confirmation before advertising.

Please use the sample management plan, the sample maps and the checklists to correctly complete and include all the required documents for the application.

Table of Commercial Recreation Tenures

The following tables list the Commercial Recreation (CR) tenures. The information displayed in the table is sorted by Region or by the Activity Type.

These tables will be updated periodically.  They may not represent the full listing of all CR tenures.

• Sorted by Region (147 kb) (November 2006)
• Sorted by Activity Type (147 kb) (November 2006)

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