Bear Season

By Cheryl Jahn

Bear Awareness

Bear prep already underway

Mar 19, 2026 | 3:21 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – With the snow gone and the temperatures starting to rise, folks with City Bylaw Services and the BC Conservation Officer Service are gearing up for bear season already. The fact of the matter is Prince George is a human community within a bear habitat.

“We are in Prince George here is we’re surrounded by pine Bear habitat. And, you know, with constant more development going in the more outskirts of the city and the rural areas, we’re going to see an increase of these interactions, for sure,” says Josh Peters with the BC Conservation Officer Service.

“Our focus is going to be on bears that pose an imminent threat or safety risk to the public as well and we’re hoping to continue carrying out proactive enforcement in the neighborhoods, as well as providing education to the community through media releases and public outreach events,” says Peters.

In the spring of 2019, the City launched a pilot program to test bear-resistent garbage cans. Three hundred cans were tried at home in the Hart Highlands. The program wrapped up in 2022 and the City ultimately decided not to expand it due to logistical issues with the cans, particularly in the winter.

Recent efforts to expand that program was rejected during the budget process.

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Also, the Bear Smart program is in limbo. It means the City and the CO’s Service will have to go it alone.

“I certainly intend to lean on Bear Aware heavily this year, especially, you know, to talk about sort of our strategy collectively on how we can manage the bear issue,” says Kent MacNeill, Manager of Bylaw Services for the City. “. We don’t know what sort of weather we’re expecting again this year. If we have another year similar to 2023, you know, we could see a lot of bear human interaction.”

While education is the priority first and foremost, enforcement is also part of the job of the BC Conservation Officer Service will also be enforcement of the rules, especially when it comes to bear attractants.

“We are constantly working with Prince George City Bylaw Services and enforcement is an aspect to this. But what we want is we want voluntary compliance through the public. And if we can, through these media releases and providing that education to the public, we are hoping to gain that compliance before it comes to an enforcement measure.”

In the meantime, City Bylaw Services and the CO’s Service are waiting with bated breathe to see what this spring and summer will bring for bear interactions