What are development cost charges in BC, and who pays them?
Development cost charges are one-time fees a council or regional district sets by bylaw for pipes, roads and parks, paid at subdivision or building permit; a permit for fewer than 4 homes pays none unless the bylaw says so.
Opens the report at this answer. A PID always finds the lot; an address needs an exact match.
What the answer means
A development cost charge is how growth pays its share of the services it needs. The amounts are in a schedule to each local government's own bylaw, by zone, area, use or size and many rural areas have none. A report doesn't give them; the rules below say when they apply.
- What it pays for
- A municipality or regional district may, by bylaw, charge everyone who gets a subdivision approved or a building permit for building, altering or extending a building, to help pay the capital costs of sewage, water, drainage, fire protection, police, highway and solid waste and recycling facilities (not off-street parking), and of park land, serving that development (Local Government Act s. 559 (1), (2)). A regional district providing the service can set one in a municipality, which collects it (s. 559 (6), (7)). The Province's inspector of municipalities must approve the bylaw first (s. 560).
- When it's paid
- At the subdivision approval or when the building permit is issued (s. 559 (4)). A charge of $50,000 or more may be paid in instalments: a quarter then and the rest within 4 years, or sooner once occupancy permits are issued, with a bond or letter of credit as surety; a council can allow smaller charges the same way (Development Charge (Instalments) Regulation ss. 2 to 7).
- A house or a suite
- No charge is payable on a building permit for a building that will hold fewer than 4 self-contained homes and nothing else, unless the bylaw says it is (s. 561 (5), (6)); nor, unless the bylaw says otherwise, on homes of 29 m² or less each, or on work valued at $50,000 or less (s. 561 (7) to (10)). A subdivision isn't covered by those exemptions, so a new lot usually pays at subdivision (our reading).
- When none is payable
- No charge applies where one was already paid for the same development, unless more development adds new costs, where the development adds no new capital costs, or for a place of public worship exempt from tax (s. 561 (1) to (3)). A council may waive or cut a charge only for the kinds of development its bylaw lists, such as non-profit or affordable rental housing or low-impact small-lot subdivisions (ss. 562, 563).
- How the amount is set
- The schedule must charge similar amounts for development with similar costs, and may vary by zone, area, use, class or the number and size of lots or units (s. 564 (1) to (3)). The council must make its calculations available on request (s. 564 (5)) and report each year, before June 30, what it collected and spent (s. 569).
- A new bylaw mid-application
- A new or higher charge doesn't apply to a building permit issued within 12 months of the bylaw's adoption where the building permit, a development permit or a rezoning for that land was already applied for and its fee paid, unless the applicant agrees in writing (s. 568).
- Amenity cost charges
- Since 2023 a local government may also set amenity cost charges, by bylaw after public consultation, for amenities such as community, youth or seniors' centres, recreation facilities, libraries, day cares and public squares in the areas the bylaw names (ss. 570.1 to 570.3, 570.7). They're per lot, per unit or per m² of floor space, paid at the same times, never for costs a development cost charge can cover, and not payable where the development adds no residents or workers (ss. 570.2 (4), 570.4, 570.7 (2)).
- School site charges
- In school districts eligible for them, a school site acquisition charge per lot or home is collected with the development cost charge, else at subdivision or the building permit (s. 572).
- What it means for a buyer
- Buying a finished home, you pay none: the developer paid. Buying to subdivide, to build several homes or to rebuild bigger, the charges can be a large share of the cost, and they change when the bylaw is updated. Ask for the figure on your plan in writing before you remove subjects.
Our summary of the Local Government Act (RSBC 2015, c. 1, Part 14, Divisions 19 and 19.1, ss. 559 to 570.9, and s. 572) and the Development Charge (Instalments) Regulation (B.C. Reg. 166/84) as consolidated on BC Laws, read 2026-10-20. The City of Vancouver charges development cost levies under the Vancouver Charter, which we haven't read. Each council's bylaw sets the amounts and decides the details.
Sources, read 2026-10-20 and summarised in our words unless marked otherwise: Local Government Act, Part 14, Divisions 19 and 19.1 (ss. 559 to 570.9) and s. 572; Development Charge (Instalments) Regulation, B.C. Reg. 166/84.
Before you buy: who to ask
- The seller or their agent
- Were development cost charges paid when the lot was created or the house was built, and is anything still owing in instalments?
- The local government
- What would my plan pay in development cost, amenity cost and school site charges under the bylaws in force today, is a new bylaw coming, and does any exemption or reduction apply?
- Your lawyer or notary
- Does the contract say who pays any charge still owing on the lot?
Look up the lot above: its report gives the zone, our summary of what it allows and its smallest new lot where we've read the bylaw, and the open development applications near it where the council's map is open.
See also subdividing a lot, rezoning, suites and second homes, the homes floor and building permits.