B.C. municipalities demand province protect and expand industrial lands amid U.S. tariff pressures
Mayors and councillors voted Friday at the Union of BC Municipalities convention to push the province to safeguard dwindling industrial land.
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The majority of mayors and councillors voted Friday at the 2026 Union of BC Municipalities convention in Vancouver in favour of a resolution to protect and optimize industrial lands in the province. The UBCM will now put the resolution forward for the province's consideration.
Jason Lum, a councillor with the City of Chilliwack and director at the Fraser Valley Regional District, submitted the motion. He said: "We've got generational procurement opportunities right now across the province, nationally and internationally, as we look to diversify markets away from the U.S." He added: "Whether it be in food processing, in defence, in advanced manufacturing, all of these things require a robust industrial land base."
The urgency stems from a critical supply shortage. Lum cited industrial land in B.C. as having only a 10- to 15-year supply remaining, with limited opportunities to add more. Few policies exist to support the growth of industrial land, and in some cases industrial land is being consumed by non-industrial uses.
The FVRD and many UBCM members are calling on the province to recognize the importance of industrial lands and provide support to local governments to incentivize its protection. They also want identification of opportunities to expand the industrial land base. Brownfield redevelopment — sites that have sat vacant and derelict for years — could be identified, cleaned up, and redeveloped to add more industrial land.
Lum said: "We need to act now, not just to protect and preserve, but also to unlock the incredible potential that we have right now with these generational opportunities that are sitting before us."
The province is also looking at a Buy BC program. Lum noted: "In order to buy B.C., we need to focus on those sectors that are actively building, creating, manufacturing the goods and producing the goods that we consume." U.S. tariffs have highlighted the importance of "Made in Canada" products.
What specific provincial policies or funding will support industrial land protection and brownfield redevelopment?
How many brownfield sites in B.C. are identified as redevelopment opportunities?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
The facts
When did BC municipalities vote on the industrial lands resolution?
Mayors and councillors voted on Friday, September 18, 2026, at the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Vancouver.
How much industrial land supply does B.C. have remaining?
Industrial land in B.C. has only a 10- to 15-year supply remaining, with limited opportunities to add more.
What is one way the province could expand the industrial land base?
Brownfield redevelopment — cleaning up and redeveloping sites that have sat vacant and derelict for years — could be used to add more industrial land.
