B.C.’s plans to update heritage protections could majorly affect property owners

British Columbia is planning major changes to its heritage protection laws that critics say may have drastic consequences for property owners in the province.

The overhaul of the Heritage Conservation Act follows the upheaval caused by a B.C. Supreme Court ruling last year that affirmed Indigenous title for the Cowichan Tribes over three square kilometres of land in Richmond, B.C. The ruling triggered financing issues for landowners and set a legal precedent that could have wider implications for private property rights. Also, in December, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled that the province’s adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) is legally enforceable, including matters concerning resource development.