What does a conservation covenant on a BC property mean?

What the answer means

A conservation covenant is a covenant under the Land Title Act that keeps land, or something on it such as a wetland, old trees or a heritage building, in its natural or existing state. It's registered on the title, so it runs with the land: a buyer takes it on as written, whatever the zone allows.

Who holds one

Only the Province, a Crown corporation or agency, a municipality, a regional district, TransLink, a local trust committee, or a person the minister designates, such as a land trust, can hold a covenant that keeps land or an amenity protected, preserved, conserved, restored or kept in its natural or existing state (Land Title Act s. 219 (3), (4)). An amenity can be any natural, historical, heritage, cultural, scientific, environmental, wildlife or plant life value of the land (s. 219 (5)). The holder needn't own land nearby, and the covenant binds the owner who signed it and every owner after (s. 219 (3)).

What it can limit

It can say how the land and its buildings are used, where or whether anything is built, that the land isn't subdivided, that two titles aren't sold apart, and that features are kept or restored, and it may require positive acts or carry a rent charge (s. 219 (2), (4), (6)). Most set out building areas, protected zones and the holder's right to enter and check, with a baseline report of the land as it was when signed (our reading: each covenant's own words decide).

How one ends

The holder and the owner can change it together, and the holder can discharge it, in writing (s. 219 (9)); otherwise only a court can, on the Property Law Act's grounds (see covenants and building schemes). An owner who sells isn't liable for a breach after the sale (s. 219 (8)). If a designated holder such as a land trust dissolves, only a co-holder named in the covenant or an assignee the minister approves can enforce it (s. 219 (11)), which is why many name two (our reading).

Giving one: the ecological gift

A gift of land, or of a covenant or easement on it, to Canada, the Province, an approved municipality or public body, or an approved conservation charity counts as an ecological gift once the Minister of the Environment certifies the land as ecologically sensitive and certifies its value (Income Tax Act s. 118.1 (1), "total ecological gifts"). The donation credit or deduction isn't held to the usual share of income, any amount unused carries forward 10 years, and the taxable capital gain on the gift is zero (s. 118.1 (1), "total gifts"; s. 38 (a.2)). For a covenant, the value is the greater of the covenant's own value and how far it lowers the land's (s. 118.1 (10.2) to (10.5), (12)). A recipient that sells the gift or changes its use without the Minister's leave pays a tax of half its value (s. 207.31), so the protection lasts. We don't repeat amounts: ask the program and your accountant.

Property tax

A covenant can lower what the land is worth on the market, and so its assessment, but there's no general rule for how BC Assessment weighs one (our reading; ask it). In the Islands Trust Area, land under a protection covenant held by the Trust Council, a local trust committee or the Islands Trust Conservancy can get a natural area exemption certificate, which takes part of the property tax off (Islands Trust Act ss. 49.1, 49.3). The certificate is noted on title, and if it's cancelled, by request or for a breach of the covenant, the owner pays back the taxes saved with interest (ss. 49.4, 49.5, 49.7, 49.8).

What it means for a buyer

Read the covenant and its baseline report before you buy, not only the charge on the title: they can rule out a second house, a shop, a driveway route, fencing, grazing or tree cutting the zone allows. A report can't see covenants, as titles aren't open data; its habitat section shows the species, ecosystems and protected areas mapped on and near the lot.

Our summary of the Land Title Act (RSBC 1996, c. 250, s. 219) and the Islands Trust Act (RSBC 1996, c. 239, Part 7.1) on BC Laws, and of the Income Tax Act (RSC 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.), ss. 38, 118.1, 207.31) on Justice Laws, read 2026-10-22. Each covenant's own words decide what it requires; your lawyer or notary, and for a gift your accountant, is the final word.

Sources (read 2026-10-22; summarised in our own words unless noted): Land Title Act, RSBC 1996, c. 250, s. 219; Islands Trust Act, RSBC 1996, c. 239, Part 7.1 (ss. 49.1 to 49.8); Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.), ss. 38, 118.1, 207.31.

Before you buy: who to ask

The seller or their agent

Is there a conservation covenant on the title, who holds it, and has the holder ever written to you about a breach or asked you to restore anything?

Your lawyer or notary

What does the covenant let me build, cut, clear or fence, where, and does it carry a rent charge or an indemnity? Is there a tax exemption certificate noted on the title?

The covenant's holder

Can I see the baseline report and the last monitoring visit, and how do you handle an owner's request to build or change something?

Look up the lot above: its report's habitat section gives the species and ecosystems at risk recorded on and near it, sensitive ecosystems and federal critical habitat mapped over it, and the conservation lands beside it.

See also covenants and building schemes, species at risk on a property, Crown and conservation land next door, the Islands Trust and official records.