1.
Ability to reinvest revenue (donations) directly into infrastructure and land stewardship (with transparency and community involvement folded into operations)
IN A NUTSHELL
This land was for sale as residential. Someone thought it was extraordinary, and wanted to conserve/rezone it, but also open it as a public greenspace. Thanks to support from family, friends, and the community, it happened.
The following is the hoop jumping we chose to legally, transparently, turn private land into an outdoor community hub. Please consider the waiver and do not look for blood from a stone.
WHAT IS A BENEFIT COMPANY?
Benefit companies were introduced in BC in 2020. The legal model allows for a business to prioritize public good alongside profit. Unlike a nonprofit or society, a benefit company can generate revenue, but it must also operate in a responsible and sustainable manner and promote specific public benefits.
BENEFIT COMPANIES
- “Operate responsibly and sustainably”
- “Promote one or more public benefits” (ours are F.A.C.E +conservation)
- “Directors are legally empowered to act beyond the best interest of the business alone”
- “Require annual benefit reports for transparency”
(Province of British Columbia, 2026; BC Registry Services, 2026 LINK)
WHY THE BENEFIT COMPANY STRUCTURE?
The Hill is structured as a Benefit Company under British Columbia’s Business Corporations Act to hold the land and allow for public recreation.
**format, condense**structured as a benefit company rather than a non-profit/society because after research and conversations with other similar driven organizations, it became clear while societies are powerful vehicles for action and involvement, they can be exhausting to manage. Wrapped in red tape for a pilot project. Board management, extensive meetings, and a membership-driven structure heavy with admin harder for quick actioning.
A benefit company allows for flexible, responsive decision-making to directly support Canada’s mental health epidemic, provide outdoor space to experience as a community, and uphold conservation values. It fosters creativity and collaboration without the constraints of traditional nonprofit structures. Administrative burdens and costs are lower or non-existent. Public donations do not fund a board/staff.
This model is not a replacement for nonprofits or discounting how incredible/necessary they are. Instead, it invites partnership. It’s a collective alternative to create and hold a community outdoor hub where multiple groups with similar mandates can work together. It allows for local and individual interaction with a greenspace (via accepted proposal, but better than nothing). The approach forms partners over shared values where different organizational structures complement one another. **format, condense*
F.A.C.E
MONEY TALKS
The Hill operates on donations and grants. Thank you for your support, it is deeply appreciated. No one takes a “fee” to run the project (volunteer basis). There is no cost to recreate or to use it for a plant walk, mental health, advertise for your business or society through collaboration, etc. Donate what you’d like, if you’d like. The goal is to increase community access to nifty greenspace, aid conservation, and support community wellness.
The books are completely open for your review, with local people and business. So, you can see how donations flow directly back into the project and improve it. Or don’t, and you can watch it crash and burn.
Financial Transparency & Donations
- Reinvest donations back into the land to increase/improve public services.
- Log donations and expenses for transparent public review.
- Encourage community engagement and audit for fund allocations.
- Use donations only for reasonable, necessary expenses directly related to the project.
Purchases and financial decisions (receipts and donation breakdowns) are publicly shared HERE(link*). The goal is to reduce or eliminate taxable income and ensure spending is directly related to operations and public benefit.
Tax Strategy for Grants, Funding, & Public Contribution
- Societies and organizations can collaborate to hold funds (grants) and apply them where community outdoor interests overlap.
- Small businesses in Canada earning under $30,000 annually are exempt from collecting GST. Once The Hill surpasses this threshold, a 5% GST applies.
- The combined corporate tax rate for small businesses earning under $500,000 is 11% (Federal 9%, Provincial 2%).
- Balance donations with deductible business expenses to reduce taxable income to near-zero to ensure funds are reinvested into the project.
- Taxes paid are viewed as contributions to programs, services, and infrastructure that benefit the broader community.
HOW CAN A HUB GROW AND SUPPORT ITSELF AND THE COMMUNITY?
- Annual operating costs infographic demonstrating what is needed to float
- Hubs are free but they will not work unless people use them and they resonate with the community
- Ability to generate income (50/50 thoughts)
The Hill is zoned RC: Rural Cultural. The City of Castlegar Official Community Plan Bylaw 1427 (OCP) and What We Heard Report 2023 (WHR) outline the vision and goals for Castlegar for the next ten years. There are 7 Guiding Principles and 5 Key Priorities to support the overall community vision (WHR, pg. 30).
The Hill hits all of the 5 Key Priorities. It establishes growth in a key neighborhood node, diversifies it, protects and restores ecosystems, adds green gathering space in close proximity to the downtown, and nurtures an active city (WHR, pg. 30). Of the 7 guiding principles, it promotes ecological protection, is a parks and recreation opportunity nearby to where people live, fuels community well-being through F.A.C.E, and is actively working to reduce the natural hazard risk to surrounding residents the land presents unmanaged (OCP, pgs. 2-7).
Thank you, Castlegar, for being a City that embraces the outdoors.
Check out the permitted uses. Could you utilize this space?
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
If this land stewardship strategy is successful, it provides a blueprint to build on and improve. Outdoor Community Hubs might form in other places, but with unique public benefits reflective of the area. For example, a different hub using a benefit company for a public greenspace might have S.T.M.H. initiatives (sport, trades, mental health); whereas The Hill promotes F.A.C.E. (fitness, art, community, education).
It’s Natural.
People crave interaction with nature. Not just as a view, but as something to move through and touch. Some places meant for preservation are seeing interactions never meant for those places. Painted rocks sprout up, shelters and bird houses are built or gathering places cleared. The Hill invites this crave (interaction? creation? creativity?), but asks you to consider how you affect the land when you interact with it.
Outdoor community hubs fill the niche where it is getting harder for economic, societal, environmental, and legal reasons to access or hands on immerse in your environment. If you cannot afford to buy land, or find a community garden plot, you can visit parks, but have little say in their design or the possibility to add to the space.
Graphs found on pg. 26 of the Castlegar Plan What We Heard Report.
Speak to the small portion of property zoned in the ALR and potential to use this to guide the direction of land-use (mushroom log inoculation, organic compost from trail maintenance?). Discuss cultural aspects of the project.
See ALR guidelines at, https://www.alc.gov.bc.ca/permitted-uses-in-the-alr/.
https://castlegar.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Castlegar-What-We-Heard-Report.pdf
https://castlegar.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1427-Official-Community-Plan-Bylaw.pdf
