Cariboo, Electoral Area K

Area K is outside the Province's speculation and vacancy tax area, so the tax doesn't apply to a home here. Our summary of the Province's pages, read 2026-10-04. Where the tax applies, and who pays.

The typical home here is the median value owners gave the 2021 census, and the typical household's income is the median for 2020: a home that costs 4.6 years of income took that many years of a typical household's whole income. "Typical" for places its size is the middle of BC's rural electoral areas.

Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Area K is zoned by the Chilcotin Area Rural Land Use Bylaw No. 3500, 1999, a rural land use bylaw (Local Government Act s. 457), so the Province's small-scale multi-unit housing rules, suites and accessory homes included, don't apply there: that bylaw decides how many homes a lot may have, and in the Agricultural Land Reserve the Commission's limits come first. How many homes you can build on a lot.

The Province's principal residence requirement doesn't apply in Area K (list in force from June 1, 2026), so the provincial rule doesn't limit short-term rentals to the host's home. Local bylaws, including the zone's own rules, can be stricter. Hosts anywhere in BC register each unit with the provincial registry. Short-term rental rules in BC.

Reports for rural lots in Area K can't name the zone: the Cariboo Regional District doesn't publish its zoning map as open data. They show what the bylaw's rural and lakeshore zones allow and say to ask.

• Chilcotin Area Rural Land Use Bylaw No. 3500, 19996 rural and lakeshore zones summarised in plain words, checked against the bylaw 2026-10-29. Chilcotin Area Rural Land Use Bylaw No. 3500 covers all of Electoral Areas J and K; other parts of the district have bylaws of their own.

Ask the CRD's planning department which zone a lot is in, or find it on the CRD's planning map, and confirm what it allows before you buy or build.

The federal boundaries put 34 reserves of 5 First Nations in or beside Area K. On reserve land the First Nation decides land use, not the local zoning bylaw; a report says when a lot is on reserve land or within 500 m of it. Reserve land in BC, by place.

The Cariboo Regional District's building inspection doesn't cover Area K (Building Bylaw No. 4997): it issues no building permits there and nobody inspects new building for the BC Building Code. The BC Building Code applies everywhere all the same. Our reading of the Cariboo Regional District's own page, checked 2026-10-07. Do you need a building permit on rural land?

The Province maps one designated community watershed, Rim Rock Community Watershed, over less than 1% of Area K: land draining to a licensed drinking-water intake, where logging and roads on Crown land must protect the supply. A report says whether a lot lies in one and whose water it is. Community watersheds in BC, by place.

Check one lot: is it in the ALR? · is the soil good for farming? · is it in a community watershed?

Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

The Province's monitoring records hold groundwater samples from 2 wells in Area K, 2007 to 2025, among them 1 of the Province's observation wells and 1 water system's well. No well's median passed Health Canada's limits for arsenic, fluoride, manganese, uranium, nitrate or lead. A report names the nearest sampled wells within 10 km of a lot. A neighbouring well isn't your water: test your own. What BC's well water tests for, by place.

Mapped aquifers

No mapped aquifer within the boundary of Area K.

An aquifer is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it, so a sliver of one at the edge can be left out. The province maps aquifers mostly in settled valleys, so a lot outside every outline can still have groundwater. Every mapped aquifer in BC · sampled lakes.

Sampled lakes

11 sampled lakes lie in Area K (one only partly), largest first.

1. 1Taseko Lakes21 km² · 49% of it heretoo few readings to judge
2. 2Beaver Lake (Lower Chilcotin River watershed)2 km²too few readings to judge
3. 3Fletcher Lake2 km²too few readings to judge
4. 4Mons Lake1 km²too few readings to judge
5. 5Soap Lake1 km²too few readings to judge
6. 6Fish Lake (Taseko River watershed)1 km²too few readings to judge
7. 7Till Lake1 km²too few readings to judge
8. 8Tigulhdzin1 km²too few readings to judge
9. 9Mackill Lake52.7 hatoo few readings to judge
10. 10Gruidae Lake17.7 hatoo few readings to judge

A lake is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it or 100 ha of it. Clarity is the median summer Secchi depth; the nutrient class is our reading of Carlson's index from phosphorus or chlorophyll, not a provincial rating. Either is given only for a lake with at least 10 summer readings from open water, spread over at least 3 different years, since 2012. Most lakes have never been sampled, so a lake missing here may simply have no record. Every sampled lake in BC.

Source: Groundwater wells (GWELLS), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Ground Water Aquifers, Water Protection and Sustainability Branch, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); BC Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS) results, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

No climate station with published normals within 30 km of any of its settled places.

Plant hardiness zone: most homes here are in zone 3b (38%); 27% are in 3a, 12% are in 4a, on Natural Resources Canada's 2025 map. Higher numbers are milder winters. What the zones mean.

Solar panels: a south-facing panel tilted at the latitude would make about 990 kWh a year for each kW of panels at Alexis Creek, about 35 of it in December (estimated from Natural Resources Canada's 1998-2022 sunshine map). An open sky is assumed: the hills, trees and buildings around a lot cut it, and a report sets the lot's own skyline beside it. What solar panels would make in BC.

By the 2050s (2041-2070) at Alexis Creek, climate models project about 11 more days over 30 °C a year, a longest frost-free run about 35 days longer and about 6 percentage points less of winter's precipitation falling as snow, each against the same models' 1971-2000 (model projections under SSP2-4.5, a middle path for emissions). The models work on a grid of about 9 by 6 km, which averages valley floors with the slopes around them, so their own figures can sit well off a station's normals and aren't comparable with them. Their own figures there: about 15 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 10 to 30 across the models), against about 4 days in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 135 days (range 130 to 155), against about 100; and about 88% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 82% to 90%), against about 94%. The ranges run from the 10th to the 90th percentile of the models' 2041-2070 figures. The 2050s across BC.

Light at night within 1 km of Alexis Creek: none recorded from space, and darker than about 94% of BC's homes (2024 satellite record). A lot away from the centre can be much darker. How dark are BC's nights?

Lightning: around Alexis Creek, a cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 8 days a year and 0.11 flashes per km² a year, more than at 3 in 4 BC homes (the Canadian Lightning Detection Network, 1998-2025 average, on a grid of about 11 by 7 km).

Source: Canadian Climate Normals 1991-2020 and 1981-2010, Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Plant hardiness zones of Canada (2025 map), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Medium Resolution Digital Elevation Model (MRDEM-30), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Solar position: General Solar Position Calculations (NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory; Spencer, 1971) (Public domain); Daily average solar irradiance on tilted surfaces for all of Canada (1998-2022), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Photovoltaic Potential and Solar Resource Maps of Canada (performance ratio), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Statistically downscaled climate indices from CMIP6 global climate models (CanDCS-M6), Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, via the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (Open Government Licence – Canada); VIIRS Nighttime Lights, 2024 annual composite, Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines (Elvidge et al. 2021, Remote Sensing 13(5):922), via Hengl, OpenGeoHub, Zenodo doi 10.5281/zenodo.7750174 (CC BY 4.0); Canadian Lightning Detection Network cloud-to-ground flashes (CanCPLDv1), Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).

The Province lists 6 active waste discharge authorizations in Area K; the commonest kinds: soil amendment (biosolids or other wastes spread on land) (4), land-based fish farm (1) and sewage treatment or discharge site (1). Of these, 1 may discharge effluent to water or land. A report lists any within 2 km of a lot, and flags one whose point is on it. Permitted discharges in BC, by place.

The Province maps no open gravel pit or quarry in Area K, but one open mineral exploration or mine permit area. A report lists the permits within 2 km of a lot, names an open pit or quarry within 500 m and flags one whose permit area takes in the lot. Gravel pits and mine permits in BC, by place.

On ParcelMap BC, the land in Area K is 5% private, 11% Crown land with a parcel drawn (11% with no title), 3% federal; no parcel is mapped over 81%, likely most of it untitled Crown land, with lakes and road allowances. A report says who owns the land along a lot's line. Crown land next to a property, and every place's land by owner.

The Ministry of Forests maps 63 active Crown range tenures (54 grazing, 9 hay cutting) reaching into Area K, over 90% of its area, licensed for about 98,957 animal unit months of grazing a year in all. Outside a pound district, keeping livestock off a lot is the owner's fence to build. A report lists any tenure within 1 km of a lot. Open range and grazing in BC, by place.

The Province maps 27 registered traplines over 95% of the area and 14 guide outfitter territories over 81% in Area K. The maps are drawn over titled land too, but traplines are registered on Crown land: on titled land, anyone but the owner or occupier needs their written permission to trap. A report says whether either takes in a lot. Traplines and guiding territories in BC, by place.

Area K lies in wildlife management units 5-4 (33%), 5-14 (27%), 5-3 (21%), 5-13 (19%): the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis sets seasons and closed areas by unit. Hunting and shooting on your own property.

BC Parks maps 14 parks and protected areas (Becher's Prairie Park, a provincial park; Big Basin Park, a provincial park; Big Creek Ecological Reserve; Big Creek Park, a provincial park; and 10 more) reaching into Area K, over 7% of its land. Recreation Sites and Trails BC lists 14 sites there. A report names the nearest park and recreation site within 25 km of a lot. Parks and recreation sites in BC, by place.

Check one lot: is there a mineral claim? · power lines nearby? · pipelines nearby? · a gravel pit nearby? · a landfill or plant nearby? · logging planned nearby? · cattle on open range? · is there a trapline? · can I hunt on it? · a park nearby? · Crown land next door?

Source: Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Fewer than 1,000 people live here, so Statistics Canada rounds these counts and leaves out some figures (shown as –).

Census figures are from 2021; the next census results start in 2027. Area boundaries are Statistics Canada's census subdivisions, which follow municipal and electoral area lines. The places named at the top are the official place names in the area (BC Geographical Names) with the most 2021 homes nearer them than any other name, on ISED's home points: our reading.

Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence); BC Geographical Names, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Pseudo-Household Demographic Distribution (2021), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).