Land

Only a small area of British Columbia is suitable for land-based agriculture.  Roughly two-thirds of the total area of the province consists of mountain slopes, rocky land, and water areas.  According to Canada Land Inventory characteristics, nearly 49.7% of BC’s land area has no agricultural capability.  Another nearly 38.4% is suitable only for natural grazing or permanent pasture or forage crop production.  Of the remaining land, 10.4% has severe or moderately severe limitations for crop production, 1.3% has moderate limits, and only 0.2% of land is capable of supporting the widest range of crops. Despite these limitations, the presence of suitable farmland aligns with favorable climatic conditions in some areas of the province.  These are also areas with the highest demands for land for residential, business, and industrial development.