PlaceDossier / BC places / Cowichan Valley
BC region · regional district
Cowichan Valley Regional District
Duncan, Ladysmith, Lake Cowichan and North Cowichan and 9 electoral areas, 3,518 km² in all. 84,396 people lived in them in 2021, up 5.9% from 2016, not counting First Nations reserves, which the census counts on their own. 4.8% of the land is in the farmland reserve, and under 0.1% has burned in a mapped wildfire since 1996.
Its places
Each place's page has its land, hazards, wells, climate, tax and census facts. Listed by name, not ranked.
| Place | People, 2021 | Land | In the farmland reserve | Burned since 1996 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duncan city | 5,047 | 2 km² | none | none |
| Ladysmith town | 8,990 | 12 km² | 16% | none |
| Lake Cowichan town | 3,325 | 10 km² | 1.1% | under 0.1% |
| North Cowichan district municipality | 31,990 | 201 km² | 31% | under 0.1% |
| Electoral Area A | 4,949 | 49 km² | 14% | under 0.1% |
| Electoral Area B | 8,994 | 313 km² | 4.1% | under 0.1% |
| Electoral Area C | 5,046 | 23 km² | 60% | none |
| Electoral Area D | 3,530 | 16 km² | 62% | none |
| Electoral Area E | 4,253 | 136 km² | 22% | 0.5% |
| Electoral Area F | 1,804 | 1,844 km² | 0.6% | under 0.1% |
| Electoral Area G | 2,442 | 288 km² | 1% | none |
| Electoral Area H | 2,603 | 84 km² | 20% | 0.8% |
| Electoral Area I | 1,423 | 542 km² | none | under 0.1% |
Land and shares measured by us from the provincial maps (farmland reserve, BC Wildfire Service perimeters) over Statistics Canada's 2021 census subdivisions; people from the 2021 census.
Zoning
We have no open zoning map of the Cowichan Valley Regional District's electoral areas, so reports there don't name the zone; each area's page says what we know and whom to ask. Each of its 4 municipalities zones its own land; its page says what we show there.
Building permits
Where the Cowichan Valley Regional District's building inspection covers its electoral areas (Building Regulation Bylaw No. 4433, 2023): there a building permit is needed and the work is inspected.
| Electoral area | Covered by building inspection |
|---|---|
| Electoral Area A | All of the area |
| Electoral Area B | All of the area |
| Electoral Area C | All of the area |
| Electoral Area D | All of the area |
| Electoral Area E | All of the area |
| Electoral Area F | All of the area |
| Electoral Area G | All of the area |
| Electoral Area H | All of the area |
| Electoral Area I | All of the area |
Our reading of the Cowichan Valley Regional District's own page, checked 2026-10-07. Inside a municipality, the town or city runs its own building permits; the BC Building Code applies everywhere. Do you need a building permit on rural land?
Wildfire
No wildfire of 1,000 ha or more has burned in the Cowichan Valley Regional District's places since 1990, in the BC Wildfire Service's perimeters.
Major projects
The Environmental Assessment Office's register places 1 major project in assessment or approved in the Cowichan Valley Regional District's places.
- Chemainus Wells ProjectApproved; in North Cowichan.
The register places each project at one point; a mine, pipeline or line can reach well past it. Every major project in BC by place.
Check one lot: is it in the ALR? · is it on a floodplain map? · has it burned? · how deep are the wells? · is there room for a septic field? · short-term rentals? · property tax?
Other regions: Alberni-Clayoquot, Bulkley-Nechako, Capital, Cariboo, Central Coast, Central Kootenay, Central Okanagan, Columbia Shuswap, Comox Valley, East Kootenay, Fraser Valley, Fraser-Fort George, Kitimat-Stikine, Kootenay Boundary, Metro Vancouver, Mount Waddington, Nanaimo, North Coast, North Okanagan, Okanagan-Similkameen, Peace River, qathet, Squamish-Lillooet, Strathcona, Sunshine Coast, Thompson-Nicola.