About Communities in Transition

The Communities in Transition initiative (CIT) is a partnership of agencies whose mandates involve planning for use and/or conservation of land for communities in non-metropolitan regions of British Columbia. Visit our Partners page for a list of formally committed CIT Partners.

CIT's mission is to support values based planning processes that balance social, environmental, economic, and governance concerns to address regional and local land use and conservation issues in non-metropolitan areas of BC. CIT has identified three key goals to assist in carrying out its mission: (1) help communities plan for transition; (2) encourage and support partnerships and collaboration; and, (3) share achievements, expertise and implementation strategies. CIT focuses on several principles of participation:

  • The initiative is a partnership of interests, needs and solutions shared among the participants.
  • Partners build and apply knowledge related to planning for use and conservation of land.
  • Partners share outputs and products (research, case studies, educational strategies/events, demonstration projects, analyses).
  • Partnership work always relate to community well being, based on a land use/conservation perspective, which balances social, economic, environmental and governance values.
  • Partners strive to improve the standards of their planning processes.

The purpose of CIT is to increase the ability of communities to address the challenges they face when planning for use and conservation of land. These challenges include the impacts of destination resort development, burgeoning recreational ownership and access to lands, aging of populations, oil and gas industry activities, and social/economic dislocation caused by lack of investment. The intent of CIT is to build and share expertise among partners and collaborators in order to achieve more successful strategies and plans.

CIT Advisory Committee

CIT is governed by a 10-member Advisory Committee. Advisory Committee members represent a range of agencies and locations exhibiting pressing land use and conservation issues. Members include:

  • Dick McMaster, BC Wilderness Tourism Association
  • Sabrina Curtis, Columbia Basin Trust
  • Kathy Dunster, Land Trust Alliance of BC
  • Maxine Koppe, North Central Municipal Association
  • Tim Pringle, Advisory Chair, Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia
  • Darrell Smith, East Kootenay Conservation Program
  • Tracy Wall, Real Estate Institute of British Columbia
  • Kristina Wray, British Columbia Treaty Commission

In addition to being a partner, the Real Estate Foundation of BC provides the Secretariat services for CIT, and has earmarked grant funds for qualifying projects carried out in the context of CIT. To find out more about the REF grant application process, click here to link to the REF website and review “How to Apply”. Please note that there is a special application form for CIT projects. For more information about CIT, download a CIT Brochure or contact:

Real Estate Foundation Staff
Tel. (604) 688-6800 / toll-free 1-866-912-6800
info@communitytransition.org