Can I build a dock on my waterfront property in BC?

Question

Accepted Answer

In BC the foreshore and lake, river and sea bed in front of a waterfront lot are almost all Crown land, so a dock on them needs the Province's say-so. A report lists the Province's moorage tenures and applications within 50 m of the lot line: the kind, its status, its expiry and how far it is. One small private dock can often go in under the Province's General Permission without an application. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. Whose shore it is: The foreshore is the land between the high and low water marks. Below the natural boundary, the visible high water mark, the land is almost always Crown land, whoever owns the lot behind it, and the public keeps a common-law privilege to use it. A dock mustn't block the way along the shore. The General Permission: The Province's General Permission authorizes one private dock fronting a lot without an application, when the dock's owner owns or leases the lot behind it, it's for private residential moorage only (never rented out), and it isn't over an archaeological site, eelgrass, a park, ecological reserve or protected area, in an application-only area or a Land Act reserve, or on foreshore someone else already holds a tenure over. Built to its limits: Under the General Permission a dock floats or stands above the water on piles: no fill, dredging, cribs or solid core, and no boathouse, roof, deck or shed. It runs straight out from the shore, at least 5 m from the side lot line projected over the water (6 m beside a public beach access or park) and 10 m from another dock. On a lake or river it reaches at most 42 m out (60 m for a dock moved out as the water drops), with a float up to 3 m and a walkway up to 1.5 m wide; on the sea, 60 m out, a float up to 14 by 3.7 m, and a biologist's marine habitat assessment before a new one is built. Otherwise, an application: A dock that doesn't meet those conditions, a boat lift or ramp on its own, a dock shared by neighbours, or one in an application-only area (the Province maps them for parts of the coast and lists the rest in its checklist guide) needs a specific permission or a lease, applied for through FrontCounter BC. These are the tenures a report lists; a dock under the General Permission isn't on the register. Working in the water: Building in or about a lake, river or stream also needs a notification or approval under the Water Sustainability Act (s. 11), done in the fish timing window Fisheries and Oceans Canada sets. The local government's zoning and bylaws apply as well: a dock that breaks them can't be authorized. Buying a lot with a dock: Ask the seller how the dock is authorized: under the General Permission (built within its limits and with the seller as the upland owner) or by a tenure on file. A dock out of line with today's limits may need an application; in the Thompson Okanagan and Kootenay Boundary regions, older docks can keep the limits in force when they were built, with proof of the year.

Can I build a dock on my waterfront property in BC?

What the answer means

On the Province's register