At the Regular Meeting of Council on Monday, February 23, 2026, Delta Council endorsed an enhanced building permit review process to improve the review and approval of farm building applications.
In early 2025, Delta Council directed City staff to engage with the farming community to explore an update to the existing permit process for farm buildings on agricultural land to address concerns about potential non-farm uses. A comprehensive engagement program was conducted from March 2025 to January 2026, with support from the Agricultural Advisory Committee and outreach to agricultural property owners, operators, and key agencies through mailouts to 1,175 agricultural addresses, surveys, meetings, and a workshop.
“I want to thank Delta’s Agricultural Advisory Committee, Delta Farmers’ Institute, and Delta’s farming community for their contributions in the development of this updated process,” said Mayor George V. Harvie. “Delta is and always will be a farming community and I’m pleased we have added safeguards in our procedures to ensure that new structures on agricultural properties will remain true to the definition of farm buildings.”
Based on the results of the engagement program, four key enhancements to the existing farm building permit application process were endorsed:
- Strengthening communication between the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) and City of Delta to provide clarity on jurisdictional requirements
- Updating application forms to require more detailed information pertaining to building use, size, design, location, and soil and fill provisions
- Establishing Necessary for Farm Use Criteria to provide clarity and transparency in decision-making
- Referring applications that do not satisfy the Necessary for Farm Use Criteria to the ALC for review
The enhanced building permit review process was developed by City staff with information provided to the ALC and Ministry of Agriculture and Food to ensure alignment. The details of the updated process can be found in the Farm Buildings Update Council Report here.
For more information on this news release, please contact media@delta.ca.