Legally defined __Electoral Area__ polygons were drawn from metes and bounds descriptions as written in Letters Patent for Regional District Electoral Areas in the province of British Columbia. In the event of a discrepancy in the data, the metes and bounds description will prevail. Although the boundaries were drawn based on the legal metes and bounds descriptions, they may differ from how regional districts and their member municipalities and electoral areas currently view and/or manage their boundaries. Where discrepancies are noted, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs (the custodian) enters into discussion with the local governments whose boundaries are affected. In order to effect a change to the boundary, Cabinet approval is required. This is done through an Order in Council (OIC). While discrepancies to administrative boundaries are being resolved, boundaries may be adjusted on an ongoing basis until the requested changes are completed. The OIC_YEAR and OIC_NUMBER fields indicate the year that the boundary was passed under OIC and its associated number. The AFFECTED_ADMIN_AREA_ABRVN identifies the administrative areas that are affected by the OIC. A polygon dataset that includes all of the administrative areas currently in the __Administrative Boundaries Management System (ABMS)__ is available [here](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/legally-defined-administrative-areas-of-bc). A complimentary point dataset that defines the administrative areas is also available available [here](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/legally-defined-administrative-areas-of-bc-boundary-locations). Other individual datasets are available from the following records: https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/municipalities-legally-defined-administrative-areas-of-bc https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/regional-districts-legally-defined-administrative-areas-of-bc https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/province-of-british-columbia-legally-defined-administrative-areas-of-bc https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/islands-trust-legally-defined-administrative-areas-of-bc https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/local-trust-areas-legally-defined-administrative-areas-of-bc