HART is proud to share our Case Study Report of the BC Public Lands Map.
Overall, users thus far agree that the Public Lands Map is an important tool that increases efficiency and provides transparent access to data. Several users highlighted the importance of having information from every level of government centralized in one place; they also praised the accessible interface. Of course there is room for continued research and updates, but the BCPLM’s central insight is simple: the lack of public land has never been a barrier to development; rather, the barrier has been the lack of a shared, searchable picture of the land.
Just three months after publication, the reviews are in, and the BCPLM is a success. With over 198,000 parcel IDs from over 6,600 users, the map is already being put to work across the province with governments, non-profits, and community organizations.
Public land is one of the few levers that can lower the cost of affordable housing without new subsidy, but only if the right parcel can be found, assessed, and acted on quickly. Until June 2026, that meant cross-referencing land registries British Columbia, with no shared way to compare what was actually buildable.
The BCPLM launched on June 30, 2026 with support from CMHC’s Demonstrations Initiative, and brings that key information into one free, public place. It identifies over 52,000 publicly owned parcels across BC, covering roughly 397 million m2 of land with an assessed value of about $52 billion, and scores each one out of 100 for its suitability for housing. Applying HART’s density models, those parcels could accommodate an estimated 661,000 non-profit homes.
This report provides a complete overview of the map: it explains what the map is, how it was built, and how to use it; provides a practical guide for non-profits and governments on how to partner to develop housing on public land, drawing on HART’s past research; and finally presents four case studies of how early users have used the map in its first ten weeks.
Of the feedback we’ve received thusfar, three findings stand out:
- The map replaces data collection, not data analysis. One regional government had recently spent about $20,000 on a manual public land study. Their planner’s view was that the map now handles the collection side of that work, freeing scarce resources for interpretation and partnership building.
- Site identification used to be reactive and largely a matter of luck. A non-profit developer described the pre-BCPLM process as relying on agent mailing lists, municipal GIS portals, and driving past sites: “it’s mostly by chance.” The map lets providers search proactively, including for land adjacent to existing buildings where shared staffing makes projects more viable.
- The map has uses beyond development. A lawyer working on encampment cases uses it to answer the question governments rarely answer when they move people on: “where to?”
- Users also identified the gaps that matter most to them: infrastructure capacity (as distinct from proximity), land held by school districts and faith-based and civil-society organizations, and a municipal-supports layer. Thius feedback highlights the appetite for more data and expansion of the BCPLM beyond BC.
Since launch the map has been visited over 6,600 times with over 198k data requests fulfilled, signaling deep engagement with the map from each viewer. It has also been covered by UBC News, Business in Vancouver, the Vancouver Sun and Times Colonist, phys.org, People First Radio, and the Union of BC Municipalities.
Read the Report
