Can I get my land out of the ALR, or subdivide or build more on it?
An owner can apply through the local government for the Agricultural Land Commission's permission to subdivide, add a home or bring in fill, but only a government can apply to take land out of the reserve.
Opens the report at this answer. A PID always finds the lot; an address needs an exact match.
What the answer means
The reserve's rules allow some things on every ALR lot without asking, such as one house of up to 500 m². Anything more needs the Agricultural Land Commission's permission, and the Commission's job is to protect farmland, so it weighs every application against that.
- What needs an application
- Using ALR land for something other than farming (Agricultural Land Commission Act s. 20), a second home or a house over 500 m² beyond what the regulation allows (a non-adhering residential use, s. 20.1), removing soil or placing fill beyond the exemptions (s. 20.3) and subdividing (s. 21) all need the Commission's permission. The owner applies; for a non-farm use or fill, so may someone with a right of entry under an enactment.
- Taking land out
- Since 2020 a private owner can't apply to exclude land from the reserve. Only the Province, a local government, a First Nation government or a prescribed public body that owns the land, or a local government or First Nation government for land in its jurisdiction, may apply, after giving notice and holding a public hearing (s. 29). An owner who wants land out asks the council or regional district to apply.
- How it goes
- The owner makes the application in the ALC Portal, and it goes first to the municipality, regional district or Islands Trust, which reviews it and either forwards it to the Commission with its comments or tells the applicant it won't (s. 34.1). Where the land is zoned for farm use, or the plan needs a change to the official community plan or zoning, it can't go ahead unless the council or board passes a resolution letting it proceed (s. 25 (3)). Some applications must also be posted or advertised as the regulations require (s. 36).
- What it costs
- On the ALC's fee page: $900 for a non-adhering residential use and $1,500 for a non-farm use, a soil or fill use or a subdivision, half paid to the local government on submitting and half to the Commission if it's forwarded. A notice of intent for fill under the exemptions is $150. Surveys, reports and the conditions of an approval cost extra.
- The decision
- The Commission may refuse, approve with or without conditions, or approve something different from what was asked (s. 25 (1)). It may approve an additional home only if it's necessary for farming (s. 25 (1.1)). An approval doesn't replace the local government's permits and other approvals, which are still needed (s. 31), and conditions such as a survey plan or a covenant must be met before it takes effect.
- Asking again
- A person affected may ask the Commission once to reconsider, and only where there's evidence that couldn't have been found with due diligence at the time, or the decision rested on wrong or false information (s. 33). The Act's appeal (s. 55) is for enforcement orders, not application decisions; past reconsideration, a court's judicial review is the remaining route (our reading).
- What the Commission weighs
- The Commission's purposes are to preserve farmland and encourage farming (s. 6), and its own page lists what it may consider: whether the land is farmed now, its agricultural capability, the effect on farming nearby, and how long the applicant has owned it (it says owners who bought recently and haven't tried to farm may not be committed to farming). What an application says is part of the public record.
- Lots made before 1972
- The reserve's use rules don't apply to land that, on December 21, 1972, was on its own certificate of title and under 2 acres (s. 23 (1)). Whether a lot qualifies is a question for the ALC or a lawyer, from its title history.
- What it means for a buyer
- Paying for an ALR lot on the strength of a subdivision, a second home or an exclusion that hasn't been approved is a bet the Commission is set up to refuse. A decision already made on the lot, for or against, is the best guide, and it stays on the ALC's record.
Our summary of the Agricultural Land Commission Act (SBC 2002, c. 36, ss. 6, 20, 20.1, 20.3, 21, 23, 25, 29, 31, 33, 34.1, 36) as consolidated on BC Laws, and the Agricultural Land Commission's pages on applications, fees, what it considers and decisions, read 2026-10-20. The regulations add details and exemptions we haven't summarised here.
Sources, read 2026-10-20 and summarised in our words unless marked otherwise: Agricultural Land Commission Act, SBC 2002, c. 36; About applications and the application process, Agricultural Land Commission; Fees and payment, Agricultural Land Commission (read 2026-10-20); What the Commission considers, Agricultural Land Commission; Decisions and reconsiderations, Agricultural Land Commission; Application and Decision Search, Agricultural Land Commission (read 2026-10-20).
Before you buy: who to ask
- The seller or their agent
- Has anyone applied to the Agricultural Land Commission about this lot, for a subdivision, a second home, fill or exclusion, and what was decided? Was any approval given with conditions still to meet?
- The local government
- Would you forward an application for what I plan, would the council or board support it, and does the zoning or community plan allow it?
- The Agricultural Land Commission
- Is the whole lot in the reserve, have applications been decided on it or next door, and does any exception apply to it?
Look up the lot above: its report says whether any of it is in the reserve, how far the reserve's edge is, and the soil's farming capability.
See also the ALR, subdividing a lot, suites and second homes, farm status and soil for farming.
Buying rural land? Before you buy rural land in BC: the nine questions that decide an offer, on one printable page.