Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area B (Thompson Headwaters)

Area B 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.

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

In Area B, 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 B (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 B name the zone from the Thompson-Nicola Regional District's zoning map.

• TNRD Zoning Bylaw No. 2400, 2012Covers 97% 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 B (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 one designated community watershed, Avola Community Watershed, over less than 1% of Area B: 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 B, 2002 to 2021, among them 1 of the Province's observation wells. 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

One mapped aquifer lies in Area B.

1. 1Aquifer 825: Blue River - south of Valemountunconfined sand and gravel (late glacial outwash)4 wells · moderate 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 B. 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

2 sampled lakes lie in Area B, largest first.

1. 1Unnamed lake in the Adams River watershed (sampled as “Light Lake”)10.9 haoligotrophic (inferred)
2. 2Eleanor Lake8.4 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).

The BC Energy Regulator maps about 135 km of active oil and gas pipeline in Area B, permitted to Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC. About 268 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 6 active waste discharge authorizations in Area B; the commonest kinds: sewage treatment or discharge site (3), landfill, transfer station or other solid waste site (1) and mine (1). Of these, 4 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.

On ParcelMap BC, the land in Area B is 1% private, 3% Crown land with a parcel drawn (3% with no title); no parcel is mapped over 96%, 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 4 active Crown range tenures (4 grazing) reaching into Area B, over 4% of its area, licensed for about 696 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 nearly all of the area and 4 guide outfitter territories over 8% in Area B. 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 B lies in wildlife management units 3-44 (32%), 3-43 (22%), 3-42 (17%), 3-41 (15%), 3-40 (12%): the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis sets seasons and closed areas by unit. Hunting and shooting on your own property.

BC Parks maps 13 parks and protected areas (Blue River Black Spruce Park, a provincial park; Blue River Pine Park, a provincial park; Finn Creek Park, a provincial park; Finn Creek Protected Area; and 9 more) reaching into Area B, over 1% of its land. Recreation Sites and Trails BC lists 11 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).