The Fraser Basin Council (FBC) was established in 1997 as a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization with a mandate to ensure that the decisions we make now about how we live, work and play in the Fraser Basin will protect and advance its social, economic, and environmental sustainability into the future.
Over the past century, the Fraser River has been degraded by a wide variety of pollutants including toxic chemicals from sawmills, pulp and paper production, mining and other industries, municipal sewage, agricultural wastes and, increasingly, urban runoff. During the 1980s, the increasing pace of industrial activities coupled with rapid urbanization and over-fishing throughout the Fraser Basin were raising environmental alarm bells. It was becoming clear to governments and the general public that the overall health of the River was in jeopardy. Although the situation seemed bleak at the time, environmental management agencies believed that the watershed could still recover if the proper steps were taken.
The encounter that crystallized concern over the health of the Fraser River and the Basin it drains took place more than fourteen years ago. Gordon Campbell, then Mayor of Vancouver, and John Backhouse, then Mayor of Prince George, challenged each other to "clean up their parts of the (Fraser) River." The joint challenge was itself recognition that making progress towards sustainability for the whole Fraser River Basin would require a collaborative effort all along the River and across all jurisdictions.
In 1990, the Government of Canada identified the Fraser River Basin as a major freshwater system requiring priority action. As part of Canada's Green Plan, the Fraser River Action Plan (FRAP) was established. Jointly sponsored by the Departments of the Environment and Fisheries and Oceans, FRAP was modeled on the successful Fraser River Estuary Management Program (FREMP) which focused on improving inter-agency cooperation on estuary management.
FRAP set targets for restoration of the environmental health of the watershed. The program focused on ecosystems within the entire watershed, encouraged collective stewardship and cooperative partnerships, and involved the public so that British Columbians could better understand how their actions could harm or improve watershed health.
Established in 1992 under the auspices of federal, provincial and local governments, the Fraser Basin Management Program (FBMP) built on the work of FRAP by bringing together all four orders of Canadian government (federal, provincial, municipal and First Nations) with the private sector and civil society to address some of the key river management issues identified by FRAP. The FBMP also developed a strategic plan for the sustainability of the entire Fraser River Basin. That plan became the Charter for Sustainability 
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In 1997, the FBMP was succeeded by the Fraser Basin Council (FBC). The mandate of the FBC is to bring people together to solve complex, multi-jurisdictional issues in the Fraser Basin, to take advantage of opportunities, and to strengthen the capacity of institutions and individuals to deal with emerging issues that threaten the overall sustainability of the Basin. The FBC is a not-for-profit society and carries out its mandate by working with the vision, principles, and goals outlined in the Charter for Sustainability. The FBC is funded by contributions from the federal, provincial and local governments in the Fraser Basin; it also receives funding from corporate, individual and foundation donors. In all its activities, the FBC remains impartial, transpartisan, independent and non-political in its primary role as an advocate for a sustainable Basin.