The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, incorporated on February 6th, 2009, is the first regional municipality in British Columbia and officially combines the former Town of Fort Nelson and the Northern Rockies Regional District. The boundaries of the new single-tier government mimic that of the previous regional district, encompassing about 10% of the province's landmass (85,148.87 km2 or 32,876.16 square miles).

The regional municipality assumed responsibility for obligations that were previously owned by the province or the regional district:

  • Rural public roads (The BC government is responsible for maintaining the first 133 kilometres of the Alaska Highway, the federal government (Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure) is responsible for highway maintenance from the Mile 83 marker to the BC/Yukon border.)
  • Rural property tax and tax collections transferred to the regional municipality from the Province of BC
  • Rural subdivision approval, planning, land use and bylaw application are extended to the borders of the regional municipality

The NRRM is also home to one of the most progressive tax regimes in the province. The "3.3 Ratio Industrial Rate Policy" firmly links residential and industrial property taxes providing tax fairness, certainty and predictability.

Local access to the regional tax base, the simplification of single-tier government and the broadened authority of local government will all work to the benefit of citizens of the Northern Rockies.

Related Historical Documents

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