Proposed Changes B.C. HCA

Proposed Changes to the B.C. Heritage Conservation Act
October 2025

The SWOA Board has been following proposed changes to the governance of BC Crown Lands over the past year, including the agreement on Haida Gwaii, the permitting of Docks and foreshore on the Sunshine Coast and now the proposed changes to the BC Heritage Conservation Act. These changes have been coming following Canada and, in particular, British Columbia’s adoption of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and factoring this declaration into the BC legislation.

So why, should Shuswap waterfront owners be interested?  Two reasons. First , the proposed changes will affect what you will be required to do if you want to make changes to your property.  In particular, the proposed changes move from the present fact and science base for
archaeology to including "spiritual and traditional use" in investigations.

Second, there has not been any transparency in the development of the revisions to the HCA. The discussions to date have been between the BC Government and First Nations. There has not been any consultations with municipalities or the general public.

At the recent Union of BC Municipalities convention, the UBCM Chair strongly criticized the NDP government on the lack of transparency. As a result, the NDP government has extended the comment period on the proposed changes to November 18, 2025. SWOA is sharing this newsletter (post) to inform you about where to find details on the proposed changes and to encourage property owners to share their views with the government. Click here for Heritage Conservation Act Survey. 
See email from HCA below for links to share your written feedback, to read intended outcomes and read practicle examples.

In our efforts to help you learn more, we are attaching five newspaper articles, written and published by the Vancouver Sun on their investigation regarding the proposed HCA changes. To make the articles easier to read, SWOA has taken the articles off the internet and changed their format (but not the text) and clearly identified the author. Click on the links below to view the Sun articles.

• Heritage act changes to have sweeping effect on land development in B.C.
• Opinion: Proposed changes to Heritage Conservation Act expand First Nations decision making on Crown land
• UBCM leader blasts NDP for lack of consultation on Heritage Conservation Act
• B.C. premier promises to listen to local government on heritage act changes, further isolating his forests minister
• B.C. NDP ties the hands of its successors on land rights
  
  Click the link for the government Heritage Conservation Act Transformation Project website.

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From: Engage HCA FOR:EX <EngageHCA@gov.bc.ca> 
Sent: October 1, 2025 4:22 PM
Cc: Engage HCA FOR:EX <EngageHCA@gov.bc.ca>
Subject: HCATP - Update on Phase 3 Engagement timelines 

Good afternoon,

The Joint Working Group on First Nations Heritage Conservation (JWGFNHC) is pleased to provide an update that the deadline to receive feedback from First Nations, local governments, stakeholders, and the public on the proposed changes to the Heritage Conservation Act has been extended to November 14, 2025. We have been pleased to see the amount of interest and engagement so far and believe this additional time will provide the opportunity to review the proposed changes in detail and provide meaningful feedback. 

Please direct written feedback, before November 14, to EngageHCA@gov.bc.ca.  

Support Public Engagement

In addition to the opportunities for First Nations, local governments, and stakeholders to provide direct input into the project, we have launched a public survey to support the general public to submit feedback on proposed changes to the Heritage Conservation Act. We encourage you to share the link to the survey with your community, neighbours, and contacts, so we can hear from diverse perspectives:  Heritage Conservation Act Survey. 

New information is available on the project website to support a greater understanding of the project. This includes: 

• Intended outcomes – to learn more about what this project aims to achieve through modernizing the Heritage Conservation Act (Intended outcomes - Heritage Conservation Act Transformation Project) 
• Practical Examples – to see how proposed changes could look in real-world scenarios (Practical examples - Heritage Conservation Act Transformation Project)

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,

HCA Transformation Project TeamMinistry of Forests Email: EngageHCA@gov.bc.ca Project Website: Heritage Conservation Act Transformation Project

Collection Notice
Your personal information is collected under section 26(c) and (e) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for the purposes of contacting you and collecting information for the Heritage Conservation Act Transformation Project (HCATP). If you have any questions about the collection of your information, please contact HCATP Team Staff at EngageHCA@gov.bc.ca.