Biodiversity BMPs
The Beneficial Management Practices (BMP) category Biodiversity provides funding for activities such as improved on-farm pesticide storage (0801.2), habitat structures and enhancements (2204), stackyard fencing (2209) and pest information collection and monitoring (1602).
To learn more about the BMP program, other BMP categories, program eligibility criteria, and/or notifications & obligations, please visit the BMP page.
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Category Details
| Activity Type | Cost-Shared Ratio | Maximum Funding | Project Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biodiversity Activities | 50% | Up to $25,000 | 140 days from Project Approval or by January 31, 2027, whichever is first. |
Application Open: February 11, 2026
Submission Open: March 4, 2026, at 9 am
Application Close: March 4, 2026, at 4 pm
A portion of BMP Program funding is provided by CleanBC and is reserved for Biodiversity activities that demonstrate a significant and measurable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or an increase in carbon sequestration. These eligible activities (or practice codes) are marked with a 🌱 symbol. If funding is limited, projects eligible for CleanBC funding may be prioritized over projects that are not.
For some activities, a plan, technical assessment or engineered design is required. You can independently attain the required plan/assessment/design or check for funding opportunities via BMP: Planning, Technical Assessments and Engineered Designs (P&D) category. The prerequisite must be completed prior to applying for the activity below.
Biodiversity Activity Details
Improving storage structures.
Eligible costs:
- Construction of new pesticide storage structure
- Adding concrete, non-permeable floor, sill, or curb to contain spills
- Adding solid metal shelves to restrict the absorption of spilled pesticides
- Improving lighting
Ineligible costs:
- Locks, vents, and signage (legally required)
Alteration to pesticide application equipment, including alteration of closed transfer systems for pesticides. Application must
describe how the altered equipment provides an improved or incremental benefit.
Eligible costs:
- Alterations to sprayers
- Alterations to non-sprayer type pest management equipment such as a flamer and mechanical weed controls
- Alteration of closed transfer systems for pesticides
Ineligible costs:
- Projects meant to control non-wildlife pest species that are commonly found on farms and ranches in BC
Purchase of new pesticide application equipment, including installation of closed transfer systems for pesticides. Application
must describe how the new equipment provides an improved or incremental benefit.
Eligible costs:
- New sprayers
- Purchase of alternative, non-sprayer type pest management equipment such as flamers and mechanical weed controls
- Installation of closed transfer systems for pesticides
Ineligible costs:
- Projects meant to control non-wildlife pest species that are commonly found on farms and ranches in BC
Purchase of mowing equipment to reduce pesticide use. Application must describe how the new equipment provides an improved or incremental benefit.
Eligible costs:
- Rotary or flail mowers, in row mowers and tillers that have side discharge or swinging arms that are designed to reduce pesticide use and target grass clipping management
Ineligible costs:
- Projects meant to control non-wildlife pest species that are commonly found on farms and ranches in BC
Eligible costs:
- Equipment and materials such as prediction, trapping devices, sampling equipment (i.e. pheromone traps and digital tools) and remote sensors (i.e. multispectral cameras and chlorophyll meters specific to pest monitoring)
Ineligible costs:
- Contractor services for pest information collection and monitoring, and standard pest monitoring / collecting equipment common and well understood to the industry (i.e. sweep nets and magnifiers)
- Equipment to mount remote sensors, such as unmanned aircraft systems (i.e. drones)
The desired outcome of the shelterbelt or buffer establishment must be identified in the plan and reflected in the proposed design and species mix.
Eligible costs:
- Tree materials only for planting around fields and buildings
- Staking to support young trees from winter damage
- Buffers can be single or multi-row
- Maintenance for the year after the planting year can be included as part of the project proposal but is subject to the availability of funding in the following program year
- Renovations or supplemental plantings
Ineligible costs:
- Establishment of trees or shrubs that are intended for harvesting for economic benefit within 15 years, such as fruit orchards, Christmas trees, ornamental nursery stock
- Block or plantation-style plantings
- Buffer and shelterbelt renovation costs incurred after the establishment or the purchase and relocation of established trees
- Landscape quality or landscaping-type plantings
- Breaking and reseeding of existing native forages
- Costs for planting cover or companion crops
- Seed containing noxious or prohibited weeds as listed in The Weed Control Act
Required documents:
Vegetative Buffer Plan (BMP: P&D activity code 3401). Only needed if located in Vancouver Island, the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys, Thompson- Nicola,
Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver areas
Supporting the purchase, construction and installation of species-specific habitat structures and enhancements to natural habitat for wildlife and species at risk. These include, but are not limited to:
- Bat houses and/or bat roosts
- Specialized nest boxes for birds (e.g. barn owl, barn swallow, prothonotary warbler)
- Winter bird roosts
- Turtle sunning platforms
- Snake hibernacula (overwintering sites)
- Turtle nesting sites
- Protective structures (i.e. cattle guards) to prevent nest relocation
Eligible costs:
- Flushing bars on haying/silage-cutting equipment to reduce wildlife mortality
Ineligible costs:
- Equipment or compenents directly related to cutting or harvesting of forage
Eligible costs:
- Pollinator strips or other perennial cover for pollinator habitat
- Pollinator nesting sites to support pollinators and plant species at risk
- Pollinator habitat for other biodiversity purposes in fields
- Field margins of existing cropland (area planted with high value plants that pollinators like)
Required documents:
- Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP: P&D activity code 2801)
Ineligible costs:
- On-going maintenance
- Costs associated with acquiring/planting invasive plant species
- Payments associated with opportunity costs for land taken out of production
- Landscape quality or landscaping-type plantings
- Commercial fruit trees, Christmas trees, ornamentals, afforestation, woodlot establishment and reforestation
Project must follow the BC Agricultural Fencing Handbook regulations for project design and implementation.
Eligible costs:
- Stackyard fencing to protect harvested feeds, forage and silage stored by farmers and ranchers from wildlife
- Permanent fencing inclusive of all costs, including in-kind labour
- Portable electric fencing, set-ups, including solar battery chargers, battery and initial line and post purchases
- Monitoring and management equipment
Ineligible costs:
- Perimeter fencing
- Pasture seeding and establishment costs
- Pasture renovation
- Repair and maintenance of existing riparian erosion control or riparian pasture management systems and equipment (e.g., can’t be used to repair existing fence)
Eligible costs:
- Precision farming applications that reduce the application and overlap of pesticides and/or improve the rate and placement of application (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc.)
- GPS guidance systems and installation
- Online field mapping equipment
- Online input application control systems guided by high-resolution electronic field maps and GPS
Ineligible costs:
- Any precision farming applications in areas where field size and distribution, ditch layout and/or lay of land prevent significant utility from the use of GPS–guided equipment
- Annual subscription fees
- Pesticide inputs
This category is open to applications that address projects or situations identified in an Environmental Farm Plan but not represented by any other Biodiversity Projects.
Applications will be accepted on a proposal driven basis and will be reviewed by a technical expert and/or staff at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
Required documents:
- Applicable planning, engineering or technical design must accompany application.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible Applicants
Applicants must have:
- A valid Environmental Farm Plan (EFP)
- Applicants applying for the Extreme Weather Preparedness category and associated plans and designs are not required to have an EFP.
- EFPs are valid if they are less than 5 years old and reflect the current farm or ranch operation.
- Please renew your EFP if it is more than 5 years old, or if there have been changes made to the farm/ranch that could have impact on environmental risk.
- Farm Status. Be a primary production agriculture business whose primary purpose is the production and sale of agricultural products and must be a BC registered business entity (including sole proprietor, partnership, corporations, cooperatives, Indigenous economic development corporations, and band-owned businesses).
- Premises ID, if livestock and/or poultry is raised.
- GST and CRA business number. Participants must be a taxable entity (e.g., individual, corporation, or trust), limited partnership, commune, cooperative with GST & business number, or First Nation Band.
- Main farmstead locatedin BC and file farm income tax (form T2042 or T1273) under the Income Tax Act in BC.
- Licensed Aquaculture producers, vertical farm producers, and Federally licensed Cannabis or Hemp producers are exempt from meeting farm tax income requirements, however:
- Aquaculture operations will have to provide their valid aquaculture license number.
- Vertical farm producers must provide documentation demonstrating their farm businesses have achieved the minimum Farm Class Status Equivalent annual gross revenues for the sale of ‘agricultural products’ in the year prior to their application.
- Cannabis or Hemp producers must provide proof of either their standard-cultivators, or industrial hemp license as issued by Health Canada under the Cannabis Act or Industrial Hemp Regulations. The personal production of medicinal cannabis is not eligible for this program.
- Licensed Aquaculture producers, vertical farm producers, and Federally licensed Cannabis or Hemp producers are exempt from meeting farm tax income requirements, however:
- Complete the prerequisite activity(s), if required.
- Some BMP activities require assessments, plans, or engineered designs that must be completed prior. Proof of completion must be submitted at the time of application.
- Concurrent planning/design projects and on-farm equipment/infrastructure projects may be allowed in some cases where projects are not dependent on the final plan or design for the equipment/infrastructure activity or may be waived at the discretion of IAF on a case-by-case basis.
- Some BMP activities require assessments, plans, or engineered designs that must be completed prior. Proof of completion must be submitted at the time of application.
Important Details
- Project activities should not commence prior to approval of the application; retroactive costs are not eligible.
- A per-farm lifetime funding cap of $100,000 has been established for the duration of the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP) period, which runs from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2028. This cap applies across all BMP categories unless otherwise specified.
- A portion of BMP Program funding is provided by CleanBC and is reserved for select activities that demonstrate a significant and measurable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or an increase in carbon sequestration. These eligible activities (or practice codes) are marked with a 🌱symbol. If funding is limited, projects eligible for CleanBC funding may be prioritized over projects that are not.
- Applicants can only apply for each BMP activity (i.e., Practice Code) once per fiscal year. Example: Applicants may not apply to install a new irrigation system (Practice Code 1804) twice in one year.
- Stacking funds from other government programs is permitted so long as the funding received from all government sources does not exceed 100% of project costs.
- IAF has the authority to deny an application if there is evidence of misrepresentation of pertinent information.
- The program policy sets a percentage maximum amount of government funds that can be used towards the total project costs. For the Sustainable CAP, this has been set at 100% of the total eligible costs of the BMP Project.
- In-Kind costs are eligible in specific circumstances.
Ineligible Activities and Expenses
Unless specified in a BMP Practice Code, the following costs are ineligible:
- GST
- Fertilizer, seed, and crop protection products
- Fees are permits, approvals, or legal activities
- Typical farm equipment and related accessories or attachments (including tractors, skid steers, and trailers)
- Costs of ongoing activities
- Maintenance or repair costs
- Financing charges, loan interest payments, bank fees
- Maintenance or extended warranties on equipment, electronics, or technology purchases
- New building construction, including sheds, barns, or storage (for products or by-products), unless specified under a BMP activity.
- Expenses incurred before approval or expenses after the project completion date, unless consent is received from the program.
- Monthly or annual subscription fees (e.g., satellite, cellular, or internet uplinks for data transmission) or monthly or annual rental fees for equipment (e.g., orchard heaters)
- Costs associated with removing and disposing of old equipment (e.g., renting a crane to remove a decommissioned wind machine)
- In-kind costs for the Planning, Technical Assessments and Engineered Designs category or the Extreme Weather Preparedness category.
Applying to the Program
We encourage you to submit a completed application(s) as soon as possible. Applying is not a guarantee of funding.
Notification of application closure will be provided in the BMP Newsletter and posted to this webpage.
Applications will be reviewed and adjudicated on a first-come, first-served basis until available funds are fully committed.
Funding decisions will be provided within 8 weeks of a complete application submission.
Important Program Dates
Applications Open
Submissions Accepted
Applications Close
Project Start
Project Completion
Accessing the IAF Client Portal
To apply to the program, you must first create an IAF Client Portal account and register your organization by navigating to the IAF Client Portal and selecting “Create an account now.”
If you have previously applied to an IAF-delivered program you can skip this step – you’re already registered!
Sign Up & Register
To apply to the program, you must first create an IAF Client Portal account and register your organization by navigating to the IAF Client Portal and selecting “Create an account now.”
Starting your BMP Application
To find the application navigate to the ‘Opportunities‘ tab in the IAF Client Portal and select the BMP category you’d like to apply to.
Resources
Funding for these programs have been provided by the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a $3.5 billion, 5-year agreement between the federal, provincial and territorial governments. Additional funding has been provided by CleanBC. The program is delivered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC (IAF).
Please note: the Government of BC may, from time to time, give instructions to IAF in relation to the delivery and administration of this program. IAF must and will comply with those instructions.