Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area A (Wells Gray Country)

Area A 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 4.4 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).

In Area A, a zone limited to detached houses must allow at least one secondary suite or detached accessory home (a garden suite or carriage house) next to a house. A floor of 3 or 4 homes applies on rural land only inside an urban containment boundary drawn in a regional growth strategy, and most rural land is outside one. None of it applies on land in an Islands Trust local trust area or under a rural land use bylaw, 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 A (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 A name the zone from the Thompson-Nicola Regional District's zoning map.

• TNRD Zoning Bylaw No. 2400, 2012Covers 98% of the area. 29 zones explained, from the bylaw as amended to October 1, 2026, checked October 30, 2026.

Shares of the area's land and water, worked out from the Thompson-Nicola Regional District's zoning map (Open Government Licence – Thompson-Nicola Regional District); a bylaw is listed where at least 20 ha and 1% of it lies here. Lots inside a municipality follow its own bylaw. Confirm with the TNRD's planning department before you buy or build.

Check one lot: look up its address for its zone and the share of the lot in each.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District's building inspection covers all of Area A (Building Regulations Bylaw No. 2066, 2005): building, adding on, moving or demolishing a building needs a building permit, and the work is inspected. Our reading of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District's own page, checked 2026-10-07. Do you need a building permit on rural land?

The Province maps 3 designated community watersheds, Russell Community Watershed, Mcdougall Community Watershed and Hascheak Community Watershed, over less than 1% of Area A: 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).

Mapped aquifers

4 mapped aquifers lie in Area A, most wells first.

1. 1Aquifer 771: Clearwater - North of Kamloopsfractured crystalline bedrock61 wells · low productivity
2. 2Aquifer 769: Clearwater - North of Kamloopsunconfined sand and gravel (alluvial or colluvial fan)58 wells · moderate productivity
3. 3Aquifer 807: North Thompson Riverunconfined sand and gravel (medium stream system)28 wells · moderate productivity
4. 4Aquifer 271: North Thompson River floodplainunconfined sand and gravel (medium stream system)8 wells · high productivity

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. Wells and productivity are for the whole aquifer, which can reach well beyond Area A. 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

5 sampled lakes lie in Area A, largest first.

1. 1Murtle Lake77 km²too few readings to judge
2. 2Kostal Lake8 km²too few readings to judge
3. 3McDougall Lake6 km²too few readings to judge
4. 4Ray Lake1 km²too few readings to judge
5. 5Moose Lake (Lower North Thompson River watershed)10.4 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).

Normals for 1981-2010 at the Vavenby station, about 4 km from Vavenby (of the communities here with a station within 30 km, the one with the most addresses); ECCC has no fuller 1991-2020 set for it. Its normals don't include the frost-free period or days with snow on the ground, so those are left out. * Based on at least 20 or 15 of the 30 years, short of the World Meteorological Organization's standard: treat as a rougher guide. The records are single days measured at the station: the most rain, snow and wind it saw in its record up to 2010 (ECCC's 1981-2010 sets give records over the station's whole history, so some dates are older than 1981). Each is one event, not what to expect in a year, and the lot can get more or less than the station. Elevation matters a lot in BC: a hillside lot can be much colder and snowier than the station.

Plant hardiness zone: most homes here are in zone 5b (32%); 29% are in 6a, 23% are in 5a, 12% are in 4b, 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 930 kWh a year for each kW of panels at Vavenby, 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 Vavenby, climate models project about 14 more days over 30 °C a year, a longest frost-free run about 30 days longer and about 8 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 20 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 14 to 34 across the models), against about 6 days in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 155 days (range 140 to 180), against about 125; and about 82% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 70% to 84%), against about 90%. 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 Vavenby: faint, as around Wells or Lytton (our reading), and darker than about 87% 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 Vavenby, a cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 11 days a year and 0.17 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 BC Energy Regulator maps about 44 km of active oil and gas pipeline in Area A, permitted to Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC. About 87 km more is on recent permits it lists as new. A report lists any pipeline within 200 m of a lot, and flags one within 30 m, where digging needs the permit holder's agreement. Pipelines in BC, by place.

The Province lists 5 active waste discharge authorizations in Area A; the commonest kinds: sewage treatment or discharge site (3), landfill, transfer station or other solid waste site (1) and slaughterhouse (1). Of these, 4 may discharge effluent to water or land and 1 refuse to 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 2 open gravel pits and quarries in Area A: John's Pit and Round Top Road Quarry; and one open mineral exploration 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 A is 2% private, 3% Crown land with a parcel drawn (3% with no title); no parcel is mapped over 95%, 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 10 active Crown range tenures (10 grazing) reaching into Area A, over 16% of its area, licensed for about 2,063 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 21 registered traplines over 30% of the area and 3 guide outfitter territories over less than 1% in Area A. 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 A lies in wildlife management units 3-46 (40%), 3-45 (31%), 3-40 (13%), 3-39 (9%): the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis sets seasons and closed areas by unit. Hunting and shooting on your own property.

BC Parks maps 6 parks and protected areas (Caligata Lake Park, a provincial park; Cariboo Mountains Park, a provincial park; Dunn Peak Park, a protected area; North Thompson River Park, a provincial park; and 2 more) reaching into Area A, over 72% of its land. Recreation Sites and Trails BC lists 13 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).

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).