British Columbia’s natural environment will be better protected with stronger enforcement to stop people from committing environmental crimes in provincial parks, protected areas and ecological reserves.

Regulatory changes are being made today to the Park Act and Ecological Reserve Act to bring administrative penalties of as much as $500,000 into the list of enforcement options available to BC Parks staff.

Administrative penalties are financial penalties that can be used to address a wide range of violations, such as cutting down trees, feeding wildlife, dumping waste and operating a guiding business without a permit.

The penalty can be scaled to address the severity of the violation and better deter people or companies from committing more illegal acts. For instance, illegally feeding wildlife will carry a maximum penalty of $25,000, while more serious crimes, such as dumping toxic waste, could carry the highest amount of $500,000.

BC Parks uses violation tickets, court prosecution and administrative sanctions, such as permit cancellations and suspensions, to deal with people conducting illegal activities. Violation tickets are typically used for minor illegal activities, such as illegal parking or failing to dispose of litter.

In July 2023, changes were made to the Ecological Reserve regulation to enable compliance and enforcement measures in ecological reserves, so people conducting illegal activities can be prosecuted or fined. Under the previous regulation, BC Parks lacked the ability to impose penalties on people and companies that disobey the law in sensitive ecosystems.