BCSF Advocacy Priorities Reflected in Budget 2027 Recommendations
Two priorities advanced by the BC Snowmobile Federation and BC Powersports Coalition have been reflected in recommendations from the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services following its Budget 2027 Consultation Report: predictable investment in B.C.’s recreation sector and dedicated funding to protect high-value recreation access roads before they are deactivated.
During the consultation, the BCSF appeared before the Committee both as the provincial organization representing organized snowmobiling and on behalf of the BC Powersports Coalition, bringing forward shared infrastructure and access challenges facing motorized recreation organizations across British Columbia.
From strategy to investment
B.C.’s new Outdoor Recreation Strategy recognizes outdoor recreation as a sector and establishes priorities for its future. The BCSF’s message to the Committee was clear: successful implementation will require investment in the organizations, infrastructure and access systems that make public recreation possible.
The BC Powersports Coalition advanced three recommendations for Budget 2027:
Create a dedicated, cross-ministry Recreation Infrastructure Fund to support implementation of the Outdoor Recreation Strategy.
Develop a user-based funding system that reinvests recreation-generated revenue into recreation infrastructure, provincial organizations and local clubs.
Establish dedicated funding for high-value recreation access roads and related infrastructure where there is demonstrated recreation, tourism, emergency access or community value.
The BCSF also advocated for stable, multi-year investment in BC Parks and Recreation Sites and Trails BC.
Importantly, recreation infrastructure is more than trails, bridges and staging areas. It also includes the organizations, safety systems, training, stewardship programs, partnerships and volunteer networks required to safely and consistently deliver public recreation opportunities.
Two important recommendations
Following its consultations, the Committee made two recommendations that closely align with this advocacy.
Recommendation 16 calls on the Province to review and strengthen B.C.’s parks and recreation funding model to provide predictable, dedicated funding that supports sector organizations and infrastructure, aligned with tourism priorities.
Recommendation 17 calls for dedicated funding to assess and protect high-value recreation access roads prior to deactivation where recreation, tourism, emergency access or community value remains.
The access-road recommendation is particularly significant as communities across B.C. face changes to the resource-road network that has historically provided access to backcountry recreation. The Committee heard similar concerns from across the outdoor recreation sector, reinforcing the need for proactive planning before important access is lost.
The BCSF is not advocating for every former industrial road to remain open. We are advocating for a process that identifies high-value routes before irreversible deactivation occurs and allows recreation organizations, Indigenous and local governments, tourism partners and communities to be part of determining appropriate long-term solutions.
These recommendations do not yet represent funding commitments, but they are an important step toward turning B.C.’s Outdoor Recreation Strategy into action.
The BCSF will continue working with the Province, BC Powersports Coalition partners and the broader outdoor recreation sector to advance these priorities as Budget 2027 is developed.
