What is an official community plan in BC, and does it change what I can build?
An official community plan sets a council's land use policy and map designations; it doesn't change what the zone lets you build today, but later bylaws must be consistent with it.
Opens the lot's report at this answer. If an address isn't found, try the PID, the 9-digit parcel number on the land title or assessment notice.
What the answer means
An official community plan is a council's or regional board's statement of where homes, farms, shops, industry and parks should go, with a map of land use designations. The zoning bylaw sets what may be built and used on a lot now; the plan says where the council means to go, and what it will and won't rezone for.
- What a plan is
- A statement of objectives and policies to guide decisions on planning and land use in the area it covers, adopted by bylaw with the plan as a schedule (Local Government Act ss. 471, 472). Every municipality must have one; a regional district may adopt one or more for parts of its land, and an electoral area may have none (s. 472 (1), (1.1)).
- What it must hold
- Statements and map designations for where homes of what type and density go to meet housing needs over at least 20 years, the commercial, industrial, institutional, farm, recreation and utility uses, sand and gravel deposits, land with hazards or that is environmentally sensitive, major roads, sewer and water, and public facilities such as schools and parks; plus housing policies and greenhouse gas targets (s. 473). A municipality's plan must make room for the 20-year housing total in its latest housing needs report (s. 473.1 (3)).
- What it does to a lot
- A plan doesn't commit or authorize the council to carry out any project in it, but every bylaw adopted and every work undertaken after it must be consistent with it (s. 478). So a designation doesn't change what the zone allows on the lot today; it shapes what the council can rezone for next (our reading).
- What it can draw over a lot
- A plan may designate development permit areas, where building, clearing or subdividing usually needs a permit first: to protect the natural environment, to keep development away from hazards, to protect farming, or for the form and character of commercial, multi-family or intensive residential development, among others (s. 488). It may also designate areas where temporary use permits may be issued (s. 492).
- Adopting and amending
- A plan or an amendment is adopted by bylaw after the council or board consults those it considers affected, considering among others the regional district, neighbouring councils, First Nations and school boards, and always the Agricultural Land Commission where farmland may be affected; it weighs the plan with its financial and waste management plans and holds a public hearing, which an amendment to the plan always gets (ss. 464 (1), 475, 477). A rezoning that fits the plan may go ahead with no hearing, which a plan amendment never does (s. 464 (2), (3)).
- In a regional growth strategy
- Where a regional district has adopted a regional growth strategy, its own bylaws must be consistent with it, and a municipal plan in the same area carries a regional context statement the regional board accepts, saying how the plan fits the strategy (ss. 445 to 448).
- In the ALR
- A plan, like a zoning bylaw, has no effect on land in the farmland reserve to the extent it allows a use the Agricultural Land Commission Act doesn't, or contemplates one that would impede the Act's intent (ALC Act s. 46 (4), (5)). A residential designation over ALR land doesn't lift the reserve (our reading).
- In the Islands Trust
- On islands in a local trust area the local trust committee adopts the plan, which has no effect until the Trust's executive committee and the minister approve it, and can't be approved if it is contrary to the Trust's policy statement (Islands Trust Act ss. 15 (4), 27, 29).
- What it means for a buyer
- The zone tells you what you may build now; the plan tells you what the council expects around you, from more homes along the road to a future park, industry or a gravel pit. A lot designated for the use you want is a better bet for a rezoning, though a council can still turn one down (our reading).
The Local Government Act (Part 13, ss. 445 to 448; Part 14, ss. 464, 471 to 478, 488, 492), the Agricultural Land Commission Act (s. 46) and the Islands Trust Act (ss. 15, 27, 29) as consolidated on BC Laws, summarised in our words, read 2026-10-23. The City of Vancouver plans under the Vancouver Charter, which we haven't read. Each plan's own text and maps decide what it says about a lot.
Sources (read 2026-10-23; summarised in our own words unless noted): Local Government Act, Part 14 (ss. 464, 471 to 478, 488, 492); Local Government Act, Part 13 (ss. 445 to 448); Agricultural Land Commission Act, s. 46; Islands Trust Act, ss. 15, 27, 29.
Before you buy: who to ask
- The local government
- What does the official community plan designate this lot and the land around it for, which development permit areas does it draw over the lot, and is a new plan or an amendment under way?
- The seller or their agent
- Have you applied to amend the plan or rezone the lot, or been told by the council what it would support?
Look up the lot above: its report gives the zone where the council publishes an open zoning map and the development permit areas where it maps them. The plan's designations aren't in our data, so ask for the plan's land use map.
See also rezoning, development permit areas, temporary use permits, the homes floor and zoning by place.