B.C. launches tourism hub pilot

British Columbia has opened an Adventure Tourism Hub pilot that gives tourism businesses a new path to get Crown land tenure approvals for outdoor activities. (news.gov.bc.ca) The province announced the pilot on April 9, 2026, and said the hub uses a dedicated team to handle applications for activities including heliskiing, cat skiing, heli-assisted guiding, commercial snowmobiling and snowmobile-assisted trips. (news.gov.bc.ca) On provincial Crown land, operators that charge customers for guided recreation need legal permission to use the land, and any related structures or improvements also need approval. The province calls that authorization a Crown land tenure. (gov.bc.ca) The new hub sits inside Permit Connect British Columbia, the province’s permitting program, and is aimed at making applications “faster and easier” for adventure tourism businesses. The government says adventure tourism supports more than 2,000 businesses in British Columbia, with a large share in rural communities. (gov.bc.ca) The move comes as British Columbia keeps pushing a broader permitting overhaul tied to its Look West: Tourism Sector Action Plan. In its release, the province said the hub is meant to reduce backlogs and give operators a clearer, more predictable process. (news.gov.bc.ca; destinationbc.ca) Tourism is a major industry in British Columbia. A provincial factsheet published in 2025 said tourism generated $22.1 billion in revenue in 2023 and supported 125,700 jobs. (news.gov.bc.ca) Spencer Chandra Herbert, British Columbia’s tourism minister, said the pilot should help operators “navigate the process more efficiently,” while Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Minister Randene Neill said the province is trying to get projects moving “without compromising environmental standards.” (news.gov.bc.ca) The province has framed the hub as a pilot, not a permanent rewrite of the rules. For businesses that run paid backcountry trips on Crown land, the immediate change is who helps steer the permit file — and how many steps can be handled in one place. (news.gov.bc.ca; gov.bc.ca)