Three First Nations seek return of 300-acre Surrey federal property

Three First Nations request return of 300-acre property in Surrey owned by the federal government

Subject industrial-zoned site with agricultural uses of Campbell Heights North being pursued by the KKS First Nations. (Google Maps | Agricultural Land Commission)

In a show of solidarity, three First Nations in Metro Vancouver’s South of Fraser — Katzie, Kwantlen and Semiahmoo (KKS) First Nations — have joined forces today to call on the Government of Canada to perform a land transfer of 300 acres of industrial-zoned land in Campbell Heights North in Surrey.

This is a large property owned by the federal government, which previously declared the property a “surplus” site.

Roughly one-third the size of Stanley Park, the site is framed by 192 Street to the west, 36 Avenue to the south, the Township of Langley municipal border to the east, and an existing tract of provincially protected Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) to the north.

Although it is zoned for industrial, it currently sees agricultural uses, and the matter of its future has been highly contested ever since the federal government indicated its intention to sell the site in 2017.

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In more recent years, a proposal by the provincial regulator to add the site to the ALR has been under consideration, with the City of Surrey previously indicating its support for such a designation for most of the property. The site was not included as a protected agricultural property when the ALR was first created in the 1970s.

Heppell’s Potatoes Corporation, best known for producing Hardbite chips, has been the longstanding user of the property, which is estimated to produce between 30 million and 50 million servings of vegetables annually. According to the company, this single farm property has produced as much as 70% of BC’s domestic potatoes from spring to mid-summer.

Subject industrial-zoned site with agricultural uses of Campbell Heights North being pursued by the KKS First Nations. (Agricultural Land Commission)

However, last week, the provincial government’s independent Agricultural Land Commission (ALC), the regulatory entity that governs the ALR, ruled to not include the property in the ALR at this time.

The ALC’s reason revolved around the need for the federal government to make a separate decision on whether it would transfer the property to the First Nations, continuing a multi-year negotiation process. The First Nations assert their Aboriginal title and rights on the property, while the ALC expressed a desire to at least retain the possibility for the First Nations to claim the property in the future, given the “scarcity of federal Crown land” in their traditional territories. However, if the property is ever transferred to another entity other than the First Nations, the ALC could potentially consider bringing the land into the ALR’s protected fold.

Today’s official announcement by the First Nations to have the land returned to them follows this ALC ruling.

“We are coming together as three Nations, as a family, working together to honour the countless past, present, and future generations of our Kwantlen, Katzie and Semiahmoo people,” said Chief Marilyn Gabriel of the Kwantlen First Nation.

“We owe that to them, and the government owes that to us. It’s time. It’s not the time to talk anymore, it’s time for us to see k’weq’ənəq returned to us. I cannot express enough how important this land is to us.”

Subject industrial-zoned site with agricultural uses of Campbell Heights North being pursued by the KKS First Nations. (Agricultural Land Commission)

Subject industrial-zoned site with agricultural uses of Campbell Heights North being pursued by the KKS First Nations. (Google Maps)

heppell's potato corporation campbell heights farm surrey f

Current potato farming uses on the subject site in Campbell Heights North in Surrey. (Heppell’s Potato Corporation)

The First Nations express a desire to be the ones to decide on the future economic uses of the lands, which they have yet to determine themselves. Furthermore, as noted by the ALC based on the First Nations’ submission to the regulator, the First Nations reiterated today that the property is the last “substantial piece of Crown lands that the Nations are able to negotiate for in their shared traditional territory.”

“Economic reconciliation is an extremely important and integral piece to the future of our communities,” said Chief Harley Chappell of the Semiahmoo First Nation.

“Prior to colonization, we were the richest people in all the lands here, but our wealth was not monetary. Our wealth was access to land, access to resources and access to territories that we could hunt and gather on. That’s where our wealth came from. Nowadays, that wealth has changed because we don’t have that access to lands like we used to. The wealthy in this country have built intergenerational wealth off the resources and lands that are unceded, it’s time for our Nations to have the same ample opportunities to do the same.”

The First Nations assert Heppell’s Potatoes Corporation — which has been campaigning to stop the potential federal property sale and seek an ALR designation — has a subsidized federal lease to grow its crops. The company’s position is supported by an online petition that has received nearly 82,000 signatures to date.

It remains to be seen whether the property could ultimately be developed into industrial uses as a northward extension of the existing Campbell Heights industrial park cluster, which has a land supply of 1,627 acres, with only about 800 acres remaining undeveloped including the 300-acre property being pursued by the First Nations. Some of Metro Vancouver’s largest distribution centres, logistics facilities, and warehouses are located within Campbell Heights, which already employs tens of thousands of people before its full buildout.

In 2023, Metro Vancouver Regional District provided the approval needed for the City of Surrey to expand Campbell Heights’ industrial park by 300 acres by adding vacant properties south of the existing boundary, which pushes the area’s industrial land uses to over 1,900 acres.

Metro Vancouver is currently facing an immense industrial space shortage, which has added pressure to convert more farmland and other vacant sites into industrial uses and made industrial real estate a highly lucrative investment area with soaring market industrial rents and land values.

Over 22,900 acres (9,275 hectares) or about 30% of Surrey’s land area is under the protected ALR, with 57% actively farmed, 24% in a natural or semi-natural condition, and 19% inactively farmed or not farmed.

walmart distribution centre campbell heights surrey

Aerial view of the recently built Walmart Distribution Centre in Campbell Heights North, Surrey. (Stuart Olson/RiteTech Construction)

pacific corporate centre mec mountain equipment company 19550 36 avenue surrey campbell heights

Artistic rendering of MEC’s Western Distribution Centre in the new Pacific Corporate Centre industrial park at 19550 36 Avenue in Campbell Heights in Surrey. (BentallGreenOak/Cedar Coast)

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