Originally published in the Bird’s Eye
The fifth of six community meetings in the Area C Official Community Plan (OCP) review takes place this Wednesday, May 13, at 6 p.m. at the Community Centre. The topics — aquaculture, agriculture, tourism, and economic development — cover some of the most visibly changed aspects of island life, and where the most active community planning work has been occurring in parallel.
Aquaculture
The 2007 OCP recognizes “the economic importance of a sustainable, low impact, aquaculture industry” to Quadra. As of January 29, 2026, that description no longer reflects reality. The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed salmon farming company MOWI’s appeal and upheld the federal minister’s refusal to renew Discovery Islands licences — fin-fish farms are not coming back to these waters under current federal law and policy. The OCP and the zoning bylaw, which still designates certain water areas as aquaculture zones, haven’t caught up. Shellfish aquaculture is governed separately and is unaffected by the ruling. “We need to remove all reference to fin fish aquaculture in both our OCP and Bylaw,” former Area C Director Jim Abram wrote to the SRD following the ruling. “It no longer applies so we need to get it right out of those documents.”
Agriculture
The current OCP encourages sustainable farming practices and discourages roads through Agricultural Land Reserve land, but doesn’t go much further than that. Community input gathered through the OCP process so far suggests residents want more. At the November 2025 open houses, encouraging local food production was the only objective to receive unanimous support across all responses — 33 out of 33. Retention of agricultural land scored nearly as high. The December 2025 Quadra Island Economic Diversification Plan (EDP), developed by the Discovery Islands Chamber of Commerce (DICC) in partnership with the We Wai Kai Nation and the Quadra Island Foundation (QIF), identified local food production as both an economic and community asset, with interest in greenhouse production, cooperative marketing, and value-added processing.
Tourism
The 2007 OCP calls for tourism “appropriate to the ambiance of Quadra Island” that recognizes “the finite limitations of the land base, the environment, and the local infrastructure.” Eighteen years later, the community is still debating what that means in practice. At the November 2025 open houses, growing eco-tourism, agri-tourism, culinary and cultural tourism scored the most polarized result of any question — 18 respondents rated it very important, 13 rated it not important at all. The EDP found similar tension: tourism ranked lower than housing, infrastructure, and local food as foundations for a healthy economy. Unmanaged tourism growth, the plan noted, risks worsening housing pressure, straining infrastructure, and undermining the qualities that draw people here.
Two significant developments have happened since that input was gathered. In March, the SRD board approved a 2% Municipal and Regional District Tax — known as an MRDT — on eligible accommodation properties on Quadra, with the DICC designated to administer the funds. Revenues are restricted to tourism marketing and workforce housing initiatives. It’s the first dedicated tourism funding tool Quadra has had. The Chamber has also launched a Sustainable Tourism Plan (STP) process, begun in March 2026, focused on quality over quantity and values-aligned growth rather than expansion.
Economic Development
Among the objectives proposed for the new OCP is to support the findings of the Chamber’s EDP, released December 2025 and available at quadraedp.ca. The EDP explicitly frames diversification as not growth for its own sake — the goal is a more stable, year-round local economy less dependent on seasonal peaks, with housing identified as the single largest constraint on everything else. It was developed through surveys, workshops, and interviews over the course of 2025, funded by provincial programs and the Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICET).
What makes this moment different from previous planning efforts is the volume of local data now available to back it up. The QIF published Quadra’s first-ever community baseline report in 2025 — a full Vital Signs study covering population, housing, income, health, and more. That kind of specific, local data didn’t exist before, and funders like ICET are paying attention. The EDP, the Vital Signs report, the Sustainable Tourism Plan now underway — these aren’t just planning documents. They’re the evidence base that makes grant applications competitive and directs funding toward needs the community can now actually quantify.
Although these four topics don’t sit neatly in separate boxes, the entire OCP process is Quadra’s opportunity to have a clear say in how the future is shaped here. This week’s meeting covers some of the topics with the most potential for change — and for the first time, there’s real documentation to back the conversation up. Discussion begins at 6 p.m. at the Community Centre. The Bird’s Eye will have a recap in the May 20 issue.