New Rules for BC Farms: What’s Changing and When
What changes for Vancouver Island farms from December 2026: piece rates, payroll, packaging, the new market guideline, meat trade and livestock ID tags.
From December 2026, farms on Vancouver Island face higher piece rates for hand harvesting, new payroll rates, a higher minimum wage and, further out, new packaging rules. The bigger changes are still proposals: a new guideline for selling at farmers’ markets, a way for Island meat to cross provincial borders, and ID tags for goats and farmed deer. Below, in date order, is what’s set and what’s proposed, each linked to its source.
The farm page of our food business guide tracked 19 changes on 9 October 2026: 10 with a date set and 9 proposals. A proposal is real even when the outcome isn’t, so each one here says who decides and where it stands.
31 December: hand-harvest piece rates rise
Every minimum piece rate for hand harvesting rises by just over 2.1% on 31 December 2026 (BC government). The rates cover pickers paid by the piece for berries, apples, pears, cherries, beans, peas and the other listed crops. Update what you pay per piece from that date, before the first spring harvest reminds you.
1 January: three payroll rates change
WorkSafeBC’s average base rate stays at $1.55 per $100 of payroll for 2027, but it moves by industry: 48% of employers see their rate rise and 30% see it fall. Farms are split. Vegetable farming and farm labour supply fall from $1.22 to $0.85, berry farming stays at $1.13, orchards rise from $1.77 to $1.84 and greenhouse vegetables from $0.66 to $0.75. The 2027 rates are preliminary until the Board approves them (WorkSafeBC; rates by industry).
Employment insurance premiums become $1.64 per $100 of insurable earnings for employees and $2.30 for employers, on earnings up to $70,800 (ESDC). The base CPP rate is set to fall from 4.95% to 4.75% each for employee and employer; the cut is law but isn’t in force until two-thirds of the provinces consent and federal cabinet sets the date (Bill C-30; Finance Canada). Check the CRA’s 2027 figures before your first January payroll.
4 January: dust rules for milling and bins
From 4 January 2027, WorkSafeBC requires employers whose work makes or handles dust to find out whether it could burn, and if it could, to assess the risk in writing. Where the assessment finds a hazard, the employer also needs a written dust management program and worker training. A farm that mills grain or stores dry product in bulk bins may be one. Workplaces with no reasonably foreseeable risk from burning dust are exempt, and so is dust sealed in commercial packages (WorkSafeBC; WorkSafeBC).
The risk is not historical. Purdue University counted seven dust explosions in the United States in 2025, five of them fuelled by grain dust and one at a farm-operated grain elevator. Together they injured 10 people and killed four (Agri-Pulse). If you mill, grind or store dry product in bulk, read the rules and decide whether they apply to you.
1 June 2027: minimum wage
On 1 June 2027, BC’s $18.25 minimum wage rises by the province’s average inflation rate for 2026, rounded to the nearest 5 cents. The new amount hasn’t been announced (BC government). Piece rates for hand harvesting don’t move on that date; they rise on 31 December 2026.
1 September 2027: orchard platforms need an engineer
From 1 September 2027, a vehicle-mounted or self-propelled boom-supported work platform used only in an orchard, with a maximum height of 3.6 m, must be recertified by a professional engineer after it has been modified, has had a major part fail, or may have been damaged. A qualified person who isn’t an engineer may still do its routine certification, as before (WorkSafeBC). An orchard that repairs its own platforms will need an engineer’s sign-off before putting one back to work.
2028 to 2030: wrap, trays and labels
Three packaging changes already have dates. Farms selling meat, cheese or anything wrapped have years to plan them, which is a good reason to run down old stock rather than bulk-buy more.
- 1 July 2028: food can’t be sold wrapped in PVC cling film, and PVC film wrap can’t be sold in BC (BC government).
- 1 January 2030: “modified milk ingredients” on an ingredient list becomes “milk-derived ingredients”, with revised rules on which ingredients each name covers (CFIA). Change the wording the next time you reprint labels.
- 1 July 2030: polystyrene foam trays for raw meat, poultry and fish are restricted under BC’s single-use plastics rules (BC Laws, s. 11). Plan the switch to another tray or to vacuum packing.
Proposed: a new farmers’ market guideline
Markets still follow BC’s guideline for the sale of food at temporary food markets, revised in August 2020. Comments on a new draft are closed, and the province intends to publish the final guideline, with a summary of responses, in fall 2026 (BC government). The draft revises the lists of lower- and higher-risk foods, sets new rules and a required sign for home-made food, and lists records a market manager or health inspector may ask a vendor for, such as a written food safety plan (draft).
I begin with the proposition that eating is an agricultural act.
— Wendell Berry, “The Pleasures of Eating”, in What Are People For? (1990)
At a market, the eater and the farm are one table apart, which is why the rules for that table matter more than their length suggests. Nothing to do yet: each food’s page in the guide’s Can I sell it? section shows what the draft would change.
Proposed: Island meat across provincial borders
Meat sold into another province must be slaughtered at a federally licensed plant, and the CFIA’s list has no federally licensed slaughterhouse on the Island; the nearest are on the mainland (CFIA). A proposal published in the Canada Gazette on 27 June 2026 would, for four years, let low volumes of raw, single-ingredient red meat from provincially licensed plants cross into another province where there isn’t enough federal slaughter capacity, as long as both provinces agree to oversee it. Poultry isn’t included (CFIA).
Comments closed on 26 August 2026. BC hasn’t said whether it would take part, and the proposal doesn’t say whether Farmgate or Farmgate Plus meat would count.
Other proposals for BC farms
BC votes on 24 October 2026. The legislature is dissolved and WorkSafeBC has paused its open consultations until after the election, so provincial proposals may change or lapse; changes already set in law keep their dates (Elections BC). Besides the three above, six more proposals had no date on 9 October 2026:
| Proposal | Decided by | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| New food processing plants on poorer ALR land (soil classes 5 to 7, and serviced class 4) if 5% of what they process is grown or raised in BC, capped at 0.25% of private ALR land; the rule that half of what's processed comes from that farm or its association would stay everywhere else | BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food | Feedback closed 18 September 2026; no decision published (BC government) |
| Lower-risk specified risk material from cattle (such as the skull, eyes, tonsils and distal ileum) allowed, under permit, in feed for non-ruminants, fertilizer and pet food; brain and spinal cord from cattle 30 months or older stay banned | CFIA | Comments closed 9 September 2026 (CFIA) |
| Updated maximum compensation for laying hens and broiler breeders ordered destroyed, for example in an avian flu outbreak, if market values now exceed the current caps | CFIA | Depends on a market analysis; changes, if needed, expected fall 2026 (CFIA) |
| Decisions on organic production and marketing, food safety and biosecurity, and fines and enforcement, held back from the February 2026 General Order. Island growers of less than 1 ton of storage crops a year are small-scale producers and pay no licence fees or levies | BC Vegetable Marketing Commission | Recommendations were due by June 2026; no outcome published (BCVMC) |
| AgriStability changes to how family (non-arm’s-length) labour and contract work count, considering the impact on small farms; a higher payment cap is being discussed for the 2028–2033 framework | Federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers | Agreed in principle 17 July 2026; a decision is aimed at the 2027 program year (AAFC) |
| Psychological health and safety rules, and harassment and violence rules that cover co-workers as well as customers and other outsiders | WorkSafeBC | Consultation paused for the election (WorkSafeBC) |
The ALR proposal is the one to watch if you make jam, juice or sausage from what you grow. It would keep the half-your-own rule on better farmland, and open a new route for a processing plant on land that grows poorly.
Where to check what’s changed since
Rules move after a post is written. The farm page of our food business guide is kept current: a change comes off it once it takes effect, and a proposal stays labelled “Proposed — may not happen” until a government, board or council decides. The guide’s farm section also covers Farmgate licences, quota limits, farm stands and every licensed abattoir on the Island. Why we built it, and how it was checked, is in our launch post.
Good to know
Can Vancouver Island meat be sold in other provinces?+
Not today. Meat sold into another province must be slaughtered at a federally licensed plant, and the CFIA’s list has no federally licensed slaughterhouse on Vancouver Island. A federal proposal published in June 2026 would let low volumes of raw red meat from provincially licensed plants cross provincial borders for four years where both provinces agree. BC has not said whether it would take part.
When is the new BC farmers’ market guideline coming?+
The province intends to publish the final Guideline for the Sale of Foods at Temporary Food Markets, with a summary of responses, in fall 2026. Until then, markets follow the version revised in August 2020. The draft would revise the lists of lower- and higher-risk foods, set new rules for home-made food, and add records a market manager or health inspector may ask a vendor for, such as a written food safety plan.
Are BC piece rates for farm workers going up?+
Yes. Every minimum piece rate for hand harvesting in BC rises by just over 2.1% on 31 December 2026. The rates apply to workers paid by the piece for listed crops such as berries, apples, pears, cherries, beans and peas, so farms that pay piece rates should update them from that date.
Do goats need ID tags in Canada?+
Not yet under federal rules, which cover cattle, bison, sheep and pigs. The CFIA announced a revised approach on 2 June 2026 that would require ID tags and reports of slaughter, disposal, import and export for goats and for farmed deer and elk. It will set a new timeline for the final regulation.
Does the BC election affect farm rule changes?+
Provincial proposals may change or lapse. BC votes on 24 October 2026, the legislature is dissolved, and WorkSafeBC has paused its open consultations until after the election. Changes already set in law, such as the 31 December 2026 piece rates and the 1 June 2027 minimum wage increase, keep their dates, and federal CFIA proposals follow their own process.
