British Columbia

The BC Wine Authority gives 1907 as the earliest record of wine grapes planted in the province. The VQA program, created by Ontario producers, was brought to British Columbia in 1990 as an industry scheme. In August 2005, after consultation with the industry, the province took over the appellation system by bringing the Wines of Marked Quality Regulation into force and creating the "BC VQA" appellation of origin; enforcement was delegated to the BC Wine Authority. The current regulation, B.C. Reg. 168/2018, was deposited on 27 July 2018 and last amended in July 2025. Golden Mile Bench, in the southern Okanagan, became the province's first sub-geographical indication.

The Wine Authority's nine GIs cover two very different settings. Inland, the Okanagan Valley runs more than 250 km from the US border to Armstrong along Okanagan Lake, which cools summers and warms autumns; its soils are mainly glacial till, sand, gravel and volcanic rock, on lakefront slopes, rolling hills and arid desert-like land. Benches such as Golden Mile, on the slopes of Mount Kobau, and Naramata, on the east shore of the lake, have well-drained gravelly and sandy loams of glacial and sedimentary origin. The Similkameen, Thompson, Shuswap, Lillooet and Kootenay GIs lie in other interior valleys. On the coast lie the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, with the Cowichan Valley sub-GI, and the Gulf Islands.

The Wine Authority links the province's best-known wines to the Okanagan's lake-moderated climate and well-drained, poor soils, which encourage deep rooting and concentrated flavour. It describes whites with bright acidity and expressive fruit, reds that thrive in specific sub-regions, sparkling wines and icewine. On the Golden Mile Bench, east-facing slopes catch the morning sun and avoid intense afternoon heat, which it says gives balanced wines with vibrant acidity; Merlot there has dark fruit and supple tannins. On the Naramata Bench, the lake extends ripening while cool nights preserve acidity.

B.C. Reg. 168/2018 sets the GIs and their map boundaries. Under section 57, a certified wine may use "British Columbia" if all its grapes come from the province, or a regional GI if at least 85% come from that area and the rest from elsewhere in BC. A sub-GI must be shown with the GI that contains it. A single variety may be named with at least 85% of the wine from it, and a vintage with at least 85% from that year. Terms such as Icewine and Meritage, and the GIs, are reserved for BC VQA wines; other wines may say only "Product of Canada". Grape origin, not winery location, decides the GI.

More than 200 wineries take part in BC VQA, about 90% of the licensed grape wineries, producing over 95% of the province's wine.