Zone

R1 (Low Density Residential)

Zoning bylaw

City of Merritt Zoning Bylaw No. 2284, 2020

Homes allowed

Houses, duplexes, townhouses or apartments: up to 3 homes on a lot of 280 m² or less; on a bigger lot 4, or 40 per hectare (60 for townhouses and apartments) if that is more. Secondary suites and detached secondary dwellings on top, within s. 4.36

Main uses

House, duplex, townhouses, apartments, small daycare (not in buildings with attached homes), commercial conversion on Nicola Avenue (s. 4.31); bed and breakfast, small community care facility, detached secondary dwelling, home-based business, secondary suite, urban agriculture; short-term rental with the City's approval

Smallest lot for a subdivision

270 m², 9 m wide (330 m² and 11 m on a corner) for a house; 540 m², 18 m wide for a duplex; 360 m², 18 m wide (420 m² on a corner) for townhouses or apartments

Lot coverage

75%

Height limit

Main buildings 14 m or 3 storeys; detached secondary dwellings 10.5 m or 2 storeys

Setbacks

Main buildings: front 5 m (3 m with lane access), interior sides 1.2 m, exterior side 2.8 m, rear 3 m (5 m for a house or duplex with lane access); 5 m to any lot line with a driveway when a lot has more than one; apartments and townhouses on a corner with front access, exterior side 6 m. Detached secondary dwellings: no closer to the front than the main building, interior sides 1.2 m, exterior side 2.8 m, rear 1.2 m. 3 m between main buildings and detached secondary dwellings

Heritage conservation area

None over the lot on the Province's list of local heritage conservation areas (a newly designated one may not be listed yet, and single buildings protected by a heritage bylaw aren't on it)

Fewest homes provincial law requires

Doesn't set a floor here as far as we can tell: the R1 zone (Low Density Residential) isn't limited to houses and duplexes (from our summary of the bylaw), and the provincial floor applies only in zones that are.

Transit-oriented area (provincial minimum)

Not in one: the Province sets transit-oriented areas only around the SkyTrain, West Coast Express and bus exchange stations its regulations list, in Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Richmond, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Delta, the Langleys, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, the North Vancouvers, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, Victoria, Saanich, Langford, Colwood, View Royal, Nanaimo, Lantzville, Kelowna, Kamloops, Vernon, Penticton, Prince George and Whistler, and Merritt isn't one of them (B.C. Reg. 263/2023, checked 2026-10-06).

Short-term rentals (provincial rule)

The Province's principal residence requirement doesn't apply in Merritt (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.

Coverage can rise to 90% with permeable driveways or paths on 15% of the lot.

Commercial conversion (s. 4.31): on Nicola Avenue between Cleasby Street and one block east of Blair Street, a house can hold personal or professional services with fewer than five staff, with no outside alterations.

Secondary suites and detached secondary dwellings together (s. 4.36): up to 3 on a lot of 280 m² or less; on a bigger lot 4, or one per main home if that is more.

Secondary suites (s. 4.37) sit inside a house, half of a duplex or a townhouse behind a vertical fire separation, are no bigger than the home they belong to, and are rented a month or more at a time; not in the same building as a bed and breakfast or short-term rental. One more parking space for up to two accessory homes, half a space for each more (Table 5.18).

Detached secondary dwellings (s. 4.38) are smaller than the main building, stand 3 m from it and from each other, share its City water and sewer connections, and are lived in only once the main building has its occupancy permit. A suite in the main building is registered with the City before one is built.

Bed and breakfast (s. 4.33), in a house: up to four guest rooms, the owner or operator living there at least 180 days a year, guests staying up to 30 days in a row and 90 a year, and not in a building with a suite or short-term rental. One more parking space per guest room (Table 5.18).

Short-term rental (stays under 30 days) needs the City's approval as a discretionary use first (ss. 4.5, 4.34), then a business licence shown on site, written permission from the strata council in a strata, guests staying up to 30 days in a row and 90 days a year, and not in a home with an occupied suite or a bed and breakfast. A detached secondary dwelling may hold one (s. 4.38.5).

Home-based businesses (s. 4.32), with a business licence: up to 40% of the home's floor area (25% with a bed and breakfast), run by people who live there with at most one outside employee, no outside storage, no deliveries by commercial vehicle and at most two clients at a time.

Duplex and townhouse units that share a lot line need no side setback there, and their lane garages none where they share one; a townhouse lot for separate ownership can be as small as 78 m² and 3.9 m wide; corner units face the side street.

Townhouses and apartments get private outdoor space (10 m² for three or more bedrooms, 7.5 m² for two, 5 m² for one) and 5% of the lot as open space.

More homes are allowed for community amenities or affordable housing kept for 20 years under a covenant (s. 4.26, Table 4.26).

Backyard hens and, with the neighbours' written consent, up to 2 to 6 beehives by lot size are allowed (ss. 4.39, 4.40).

Shipping containers for storage, vented and labelled, screened and kept in the back yard: one per lot (s. 4.19).

Accessory buildings: no closer to the front than the main building, 1.2 m from side and rear lot lines, 5 m or 1.5 storeys tall.

Parking (Table 5.18): 1 space per home in a building of one or two homes.

More than one main building may stand on a lot, 3 m apart (s. 4.35).

An accessory building can't be a home, a suite or a short-term rental (s. 4.16), and goes up only with or after the main building.

Fences and hedges up to 1.25 m between the street and the front of the house and within 3 m of the front lot line, 2 m elsewhere; no barbed wire. A 6 m sight triangle at a corner stays clear above 1.25 m (ss. 4.14, 4.15).

Driveways are at most 3 m wide at the lot line (no limit off a lane), slope at most 15%, and a lot has one front access plus one from a lane, or one per home for duplexes, townhouses and detached secondary dwellings (s. 4.8).

On a lot averaging a 15% slope or more, buildings rise no higher than 7 m above the street centreline's level at the middle of the lot (lots below the street) or above the middle of the rear lot line (lots above it), and no wall rises more than 9 m from the lowest finished grade (s. 4.21).

Modular buildings built to CSA A277 can be homes or other buildings (s. 4.46).

Minimum lot sizes apply to new lots; an existing smaller lot stays lawful (s. 4.6).

Building and bare land stratas are allowed; suites and detached secondary dwellings follow the strata's bylaws (s. 4.44).

Every zone also allows public utilities, electric vehicle charging, and temporary site buildings and containers during construction (s. 4.2).

Floodplain (s. 4.30, Schedule B): land below the Province's 200-year flood level of the Nicola and Coldwater rivers, or less than 1.5 m above any other watercourse, is floodplain. Floors of homes, businesses and storage there sit at least 0.6 m above that level, and fill stays 30 m from the rivers and other watercourses unless a riparian assessment allows it. Setbacks from streams follow provincial and federal rules (s. 4.24).

Our summary of Section 7.3 of City of Merritt Zoning Bylaw No. 2284, 2020, consolidated to 2024-06-25. Site-specific exceptions listed in the bylaw by legal description can add or change uses for one property.

Zoning is only one layer: development permit areas, the official community plan, the ALR, building and septic permits and provincial housing rules can add limits or allow more. Confirm with the City of Merritt's planning department before you buy or build.

The provincial floor is our summary of the small-scale multi-unit housing rules in the Local Government Act (ss. 481.3 and 481.4) and the Local Government Zoning Bylaw Regulation, checked 2026-10-04. Local governments had to bring their bylaws in line by June 30, 2024, and with the 2025 changes by June 30, 2026, so the zone's own rules usually allow at least these homes already; height, coverage, setbacks and parking still decide how they fit. Whether the lot is inside an urban containment boundary, on community water or sewer, or near a frequent bus stop isn't checked here: confirm with the local government before you buy or build.

December 21 (shortest day)

6 h 30 min of possible direct sun; 7 h 50 min on open ground

March 21 (about the same on September 21)

11 h; 12 h on open ground

June 21 (longest day)

15 h 30 min; 16 h 10 min on open ground

Noon sun on December 21

16° above level; the hills due south rise to 8°, 6.8 km away

Highest hills in the winter sun's path

9° above level to the south, 6.2 km away

Measured at

The middle of the lot, ground at about 600 m, from head height

Computed by us from the terrain only: trees, buildings and cloud aren't counted, so the sun that reaches a window or a garden is often less. The hours are possible direct sun, counted from when the sun's centre clears the hills, at head height at the middle of the lot; another spot on a hillside lot can differ.

The horizon is read from Natural Resources Canada's 30 m elevation model in 72 directions, out to 16 km: on its 30 m grid within 1.5 km, beyond that on a 120 m version of it, where single peaks can read a little lower than they are. The curve of the earth is taken into account.

The sun's path is from the standard solar position formulas. Hours are counted in sun time; clock times shift with daylight saving and with how far the lot is from its time zone's centre.

Check it on site: visit on a clear day in December or January, look at where the trees and buildings to the south fall, and ask neighbours when the sun leaves and comes back.

Capability class (1 best, 7 none)

Class 4: about 90% of the lot; Class 5: about 10% of the lot

What limits it

soil holds little water, too wet (high water table)

Map scale

1:50,000: describes the area, not the field

Mapped

1960s to 1990s (digitised 2015)

These classes rate how well the land suits ordinary field crops, from the soil and climate as surveyed decades ago. Drainage, irrigation or fill since then can change the real answer, and a map at this scale can miss a good or poor field. The Agricultural Land Commission weighs these classes when it decides applications.

If farming matters to you here, a professional agrologist (P.Ag.) can assess the soil on site.

These maps were drawn mostly in the 1980s and 1990s and cover only some rivers and lakes. Not being on one doesn't mean the land can't flood: ask the local government whether it has newer flood mapping, and whether its bylaws set a flood construction level or floodplain setback here.

Peak ground acceleration, 2% in 50 years (the code's design level)

0.13 g

Peak ground acceleration, 10% in 50 years

0.055 g

Short-period shaking Sa(0.2), the value the code uses for houses and other low buildings

0.30 g

The same value in city centres

Victoria 0.81 g, Vancouver 0.47 g, Kelowna 0.089 g, Prince George 0.064 g

Tsunami

More than 2 km from the ocean shore, so the Province's tsunami notification zones, which are for the coast, don't bear on it

These are the 2020 National Building Code's reference values at the lot's centre, on firm ground (site class C). Soft soil, fill or a slope can make shaking stronger; the site class and the values a building is designed for come from the building official or a geotechnical engineer.

2% in 50 years means shaking at least this strong has about a 1-in-2,500 chance in any year; 10% in 50 years, about 1 in 475. g is the acceleration of gravity. The comparison with Vancouver and the other cities is ours.

Liquefaction and earthquake-triggered landslides aren't covered here; ask the local government whether it has mapped them.

On record on the lot or within 100 m

0

On record within 1 km

0

On record within 5 km

4

Nearest

3.3 km from the lot: an earth slide, 15 Nov 2021, after rainfall

Kinds within 5 km

earth slide 4

With a date

4 of 4; the latest 15 Nov 2021 (earth slide, 3.3 km from the lot)

Recorded causes

rainfall 4

This is a list of landslides that are known to have happened, gathered from published inventories and from mapping on satellite images and lidar. It isn't a hazard map: it doesn't say how likely a slide is here, and no record nearby doesn't mean the ground is stable. Some parts of BC (the Fraser Valley and Fraser Canyon, Vancouver Island, Haida Gwaii, recent burn areas) are mapped in far more detail than others.

Each point mostly marks where a slide started. Debris can travel well past it, down a creek channel and onto the fan at the creek's mouth, so a lot on a fan or below a steep slope can be reached by a slide that began kilometres away. Distances are measured by us from the lot's boundary.

The kind of slide and its date are the database's own, mostly worked out from images, so treat them as a first look. Confirm with the local government, many of which have mapped steep-slope or debris-flow hazard areas, and with a geotechnical engineer.

Health region (regional figure, not this lot)

Thompson Cariboo Shuswap

Homes tested here

109

At or above 200 Bq/m³ (the guideline)

7 (6.4%)

At or above 600 Bq/m³

None

Across BC

143 of 1,817 homes (7.9%) at or above the guideline

Radon comes up from the ground and differs from one house to the next, even next door, so a regional figure says nothing certain about one home. The only way to know is a long-term test of at least 3 months. Health Canada's guideline is 200 Bq/m³ in the parts of a home where people spend more than 4 hours a day; above it, fix it within a year, and the higher the level, the sooner. For a home you buy, Health Canada suggests a long-term test once you've moved in.

The survey tested about a hundred volunteer homes per health region, with one long-term test each. That gives a rough regional picture: it isn't a map, and a region where few or none tested high can still have homes above the guideline. The survey grouped homes by the 2007 health regions; we place the lot by today's boundaries for the same areas.

Federal sites within 2 km

0

This inventory lists only contaminated sites on federal land or that the federal government is responsible for: military land, ports and harbours, airports, fisheries and research stations, reserve land, national parks and similar. Most contaminated sites in BC, such as old gas stations, dry cleaners and industrial land, are on the Province's Site Registry, which charges for searches and isn't shown here. Ask the seller what the land and its neighbours were used for; a Phase I environmental site assessment covers it properly.

Each site is one point given by its federal custodian, and a large site such as a base or an airport reaches well past it. Distances are measured by us from the lot's boundary to that point.

Confirm with the local government and a qualified environmental professional.

Cutblocks applied for (1 km)

0

Approved, not yet logged (1 km)

0

Logged in the last 5 years (1 km)

0

Crown land applications (1 km)

public works

Quarry, industry, energy or tower tenures (500 m)

None

Along the lot line

Private land along about 80% of the lot line (the east and west sides); no parcel mapped along about 20% of the lot line (the north and south sides), most often a road allowance, water or Crown land the parcel map doesn't draw (our reading)

Local development applications

Not covered here: we read applications only where the local government publishes them as open data (the CSRD, the City of Surrey, the City of Abbotsford and the District of Squamish). Ask the City of Merritt what's in progress on and near the lot

Nearest power line (200 m)

None mapped within 200 m

Major projects in assessment (10 km)

None

Major projects approved (10 km)

None

Reviewed, no assessment needed (10 km)

None

Closed or not reviewable (10 km)

None

Cutblocks are from the province's forest tenure records, which cover Crown forest licences and woodlots, not logging on private land. Crown land applications are on the province's tenure register; the Applications, Comments and Reasons for Decision site takes public comments on them. Mineral and placer claims are in their own section above.

Who owns the land beside the lot is ParcelMap BC's owner type for each parcel that shares the lot line (measured by us along the line); the open parcel map names no owners. Crown land beside a lot, with a title or without, can be logged, leased or roaded, and a view or trail across it isn't yours to keep; ask the natural resource district or FrontCounter BC. Land owned by the local government is often a park, a road allowance or a utility lot; ask the local government what it's for.

Major projects are those large enough to need a provincial environmental assessment: mines, power plants, pipelines, transmission lines, highways, ports, dams and resorts, among others. Each is on the Environmental Assessment Office's register at a single point, the location it gives for the project. A mine, pipeline, transmission line or road can reach well past that point, so a project listed 8 km away can still pass the lot, and one placed beyond 10 km isn't listed here. Each project's page on the EAO's site has its maps, documents and comment periods; distances are measured by us from the lot line to the point. Smaller projects (subdivisions, smaller pits and quarries, and other works under the assessment thresholds) aren't on this register.

Power lines are from two maps read together: the Province's map of high-voltage transmission lines (BC Hydro's, private and independent producers' lines), which leaves voltages out, and OpenStreetMap, where volunteers map lines and record the voltage where it's known. Smaller distribution lines along streets aren't included. Distances are measured by us from the lot line to the mapped line, which can sit some metres off the real one. The line's right of way, and what it lets the line's owner do on the land, is set by the easement on title, which is the definitive record: check it in the title search, and ask BC Hydro (or the line's owner) about clearances for building and trees.

Nearest railway (2 km)

None mapped within 2 km

Nearest highway or major road (2 km)

Nicola Avenue (Highways 8 and 97C), a major road, about 280 m from the lot line

Nearest freeway or highway

Coquihalla Highway (Highway 5), a freeway, about 1.7 km from the lot line

Nearest airport or airstrip (2 km)

None mapped within 2 km

Distances only, not a measured noise level; noise depends on traffic, trains per day and terrain. Measured by us in a straight line from the lot line to the mapped centreline of the track or road, or to the edge of an airport's mapped grounds (to its point where only a point is mapped); a mapped line can sit some metres off the real one.

Railways are OpenStreetMap's track in use: main, branch and industrial lines, sidings and yards, and rapid transit; lines mapped as disused or abandoned, and track in tunnels, are left out. "Main line" is how OpenStreetMap's mappers class the line. Highways and major roads are the roads OpenStreetMap classes as motorway (a freeway), trunk (a highway) or primary (a major road). Airports and airstrips are every aerodrome OpenStreetMap maps, public or private, with its type where mapped; heliports aren't included. Airport noise exposure maps (the NEF contours some airports draw) aren't open data, so they aren't used.

Visit at rush hour and at night, ask the seller how often trains pass, and confirm with the local government whether a noise bylaw, a development permit area or an airport zoning regulation covers the lot. For a railway, the railway company or Transport Canada can say how many trains use the line; for an airport, ask the airport about flight paths.

Community water

No open map of the City of Merritt's water service: ask the City of Merritt whether the lot is on it

Wells within 2 km

32

Median depth

60 m

Median tested yield

47 L/min (22 wells tested)

Median water level below ground

5 m

Aquifer 74 under the lot

Upper Merritt: unconfined sand and gravel (small stream system); productivity high, vulnerability high, demand high; 16 wells linked, median depth 21.8 m

Aquifer 1167 under the lot

Lower Merritt: confined sand and gravel (glacial); productivity high, vulnerability low, demand moderate; 5 wells linked, median depth 110 m

Aquifer 1168 under the lot

Middle Merritt: confined sand and gravel (glacial); productivity high, vulnerability low, demand moderate; 24 wells linked, median depth 63.1 m

Drinking-water protection zone

City of Merritt Well Field, from its Source Water Assessment and Protection Plan (2017): Collettville Well: the 10-year capture zone (the plan's Zone 3); Fairley Park Well: the 10-year capture zone (the plan's Zone 3); Kengard Well: the 10-year capture zone (the plan's Zone 3); Voght Park Well: the 10-year capture zone (the plan's Zone 3) (per the Province's map)

Water systems' wells and intakes within 300 m

None on the Province's list

Neighbours' wells show what drillers found nearby, not what a new well here will find; many wells were never registered. For a property on a well, ask for a recent flow test and water quality test.

Productivity is how much water the aquifer gives up to wells; vulnerability is how easily a spill at the surface could reach it; both are the province's ratings for the whole aquifer, not this lot. Mapped aquifers cover mostly settled valleys: a lot outside every outline can still have groundwater. Confirm with a qualified hydrogeologist or registered well driller.

A protection zone marks the land around a water system's well or intake where what happens on the surface, such as a septic field, fuel storage, livestock or digging, could reach the water people drink; a capture zone's years are how long ground water inside it takes to reach the well. The Province maps the zones from the water systems' own protection plans. Being inside one sets no rule on its own (our reading), but a local government may have made it a development permit area or set bylaws on it, and the health authority looks at new septic systems near drinking-water sources. Ask the City of Merritt Well Field and the local government what applies here; the plan is linked under Sources.

Community sewer

No open map of the City of Merritt's sewer service: ask the City of Merritt whether the lot is on it

Recorded water-supply wells within 30 m

None recorded within 30 m

Mapped water within 30 m

None mapped

Slope

This lot is too small to measure slope with the 30 m national elevation model.

The lot is inside the mapped protection zones of 4 of the City of Merritt Well Field's wells (Collettville Well, Fairley Park Well, Kengard Well and Voght Park Well): tell the Authorized Person who designs a field, and ask the local government and the health authority whether larger setbacks or a higher level of treatment apply there.

Screening, not a site assessment: measured by us on the same elevation cells as the buildable area, against the separations in the Province's Sewerage System Standard Practice Manual: a field stays 30 m from a drinking-water well (60 to 90 m from a high-pumping one), 30 m from a lake, river or permanent stream (15 m from seasonal water and the sea), 7.5 m from a downslope drain or bank where effluent could break out, and, as a guideline, 3 m from the lot line. We use 30 m for every mapped stream. A gravity field isn't allowed on slopes over 15%, a mound or at-grade bed over 25%, and trenches over 45%.

Under the Sewerage System Regulation, only an Authorized Person (a Registered Onsite Wastewater Practitioner or a professional engineer or geoscientist) may plan and install a system, and they file the plans with the regional health authority before work starts. They dig test pits to check the soil depth and the seasonal water table and measure how fast the soil drains, which no open map shows. Ask the seller for the filing and maintenance records of an existing system, and have it inspected.

Well locations in GWELLS are often approximate, and many wells were never registered: look for well caps on and next to the lot. Wells, water lines and septic fields on the neighbours' land count too.

If the lot is on a community sewer, none of this applies; ask the local government, which may also set larger setbacks or a minimum lot size for septic.

Nearest hospital

Nicola Valley Hospital and Health Centre, Merritt: 1.8 km

Next nearest hospital

Royal Inland Hospital, Kamloops: 70 km

School catchment

Not mapped for this lot: catchments are shown only where the school district's boundaries are open data, for Surrey Schools (Surrey and White Rock) and the North Vancouver School District (the City and District of North Vancouver). Ask the school district which schools serve it.

Nearest public elementary school

Diamond Vale Elementary, Merritt: 500 m

Nearest public secondary school

Boston Bar Elem-Secondary: 55 km

Independent schools within 10 km

1

Nearest grocery store

Save-On-Foods: 500 m

Grocery stores within 10 km

2

Nearest fire station

Merritt Fire Department: 1.2 km, on the Province's list

Nearest ambulance station

Ambulance station 324, Merritt: 1.7 km

Nearest park or protected area

Monck Park, a provincial park: 18 km from the lot line

Nearest recreation site or trail

GodeyCreek, on Recreation Sites and Trails BC's list: 3.5 km from the lot line

Distances are straight lines from the middle of the lot, measured by us. The drive is longer, and much longer where the road winds, crosses water or takes a ferry.

Hospitals are from the Province's list. Not every hospital has a 24-hour emergency department, and some small towns have a health centre with emergency care that isn't on this list: check with the regional health authority.

Which school a child goes to depends on the school district's catchment, not on distance: ask the district.

A fire station nearby doesn't mean it covers this lot: confirm the fire protection area with the local government. Insurers price fire cover by the road distance to the hall that responds and whether the lot is inside a fire protection area.

Fire halls and ambulance stations are from the Province's First Responders list (updated 2026-09-11), with fire stations it lacks added from OpenStreetMap. A hall that has moved may still be listed at its old address.

An ambulance station is where crews are based. How soon one arrives depends on where the crew is when the call comes.

Parks and recreation sites are measured in a straight line from the lot line. Conservancies, regional and municipal parks aren't on these lists. Recreation Sites and Trails BC's list doesn't say whether a site is open, closed or reachable this season: check its page before you go.

Grocery stores are from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers: one may be missing, closed or mapped in the wrong place.

Confirm services with the local government.

Best speed recorded within about 1 km

50/10 Mbps or faster

Over a wired line (cable, fibre or DSL)

50/10 Mbps or faster

Over fixed wireless

50/10 Mbps or faster

LTE mobile within about 1 km

recorded

Nearest place with 50/10 Mbps or faster

within about 1 km (about 100 m)

Data

ISED National Broadband Data, May 2026

This is the service providers report to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) for homes and roads near the lot, not a quote: ask providers whether they serve this address, at what speed and at what cost to connect.

Speeds are download/upload bands. 50/10 Mbps is ISED's top band, so a place in it can get much faster service, and it is the CRTC's target for every Canadian home.

A line that reaches homes within 1 km may stop short of this lot; bringing it further can cost the buyer. Fixed wireless and LTE need a clear line to the tower, which hills and tall trees can block.

Satellite service doesn't need nearby lines, but it needs a clear view of the sky.

Distances are straight lines from the middle of the lot, measured by us on a grid of about 250 m.

Nearest climate station

Merritt treatment plant, 1.7 km away

Station elevation

609 m

Lot elevation (estimated, middle of the lot)

600 m

January mean temperature (1981-2010)

−3.0 °C

July mean temperature (1981-2010)

18.8 °C

Yearly precipitation, rain and snow as water (1981-2010)

321 mm

Yearly snowfall (1981-2010)

67 cm

Frost-free period (1981-2010)

129 days a year*

Average last spring frost (1981-2010)

May 14*

Average first fall frost (1981-2010)

September 21*

Period

1981-2010

Plant hardiness zone (regional)

6a

Normals are 30-year averages at the station, not readings for this lot. In BC's mountains a few hundred metres of elevation, a north-facing slope or a lakeshore can change winters a lot: a hillside lot can be much colder and snowier than a valley station.

The lot's elevation is our estimate from Natural Resources Canada's 30 m elevation model at the middle of the lot.

The hardiness zone is from Natural Resources Canada's 2025 map, read by us on a grid of about 2 to 3 km: near a zone's edge, or well above or below the valley around it, the lot may fall in the next zone. It is a guide to which plants survive the winter, not a frost date.

* Based on fewer years than the WMO standard: these figures rest on at least 20 of the 30 years, short of the World Meteorological Organization's standard of nearly all of them. ECCC publishes them as normals; treat them as a rougher guide.

ECCC's 1981-2010 normals for this station don't include days with snow on the ground or the lowest temperature recorded, so those are left out rather than guessed.

Frost dates are averages: in about half of years the last spring frost comes later than the date shown, and frost pockets in hollows and valley bottoms get it later still.

ECCC has no fuller 1991-2020 set for this station, so these are its 1981-2010 normals; recent years have run warmer than them in most of BC. Ask neighbours or the local government about snow on the road and who clears it.

Local government

Merritt

Residential rate, 2026

7.9295 per $1,000

Municipal

4.9886 per $1,000

Regional district

0.6444 per $1,000

Regional hospital district

0.3125 per $1,000

School (set by the Province)

1.818 per $1,000

Other

0.166 per $1,000

BC municipalities' middle rate

6.24337 per $1,000

Your bill uses BC Assessment's value for the property, which can differ from its price, and may also include parcel taxes and utility fees (water, sewer, garbage) that aren't rates on value.

The home owner grant takes up to $570 off the bill of a home its owner lives in ($770 in the Province's northern and rural area in 2026, and up to $845, or $1,045 there, for seniors, veterans and people with a disability), for homes assessed at $2,075,000 or less in 2026; above that it shrinks by $5 for each $1,000. From 2027 the northern and rural extra ends and the regular grant is $570 everywhere. The owner applies each year, and must pay at least $350 in tax ($100 for the higher grant) after it.

Rates are set each May for the year; the next year's will differ.

Police service

The Merritt RCMP (municipal)

Crime severity index, 2025

292 (BC 92)

Violent / non-violent index

450 / 231 (BC 98 / 91)

Crime severity index, 2015

144 (BC 93)

Break and enter, per 100,000 people, 2025

1,224 (BC 281)

Theft of a vehicle, per 100,000 people, 2025

250 (BC 138)

Theft from a vehicle, per 100,000 people, 2025

306 (BC 441)

Violent crime, per 100,000 people, 2025

5,452 (BC 1,531)

All Criminal Code offences (not traffic), per 100,000 people, 2025

20,529 (BC 6,943)

The crime severity index weighs each offence by how serious it is (one assault counts for more than several thefts), with Canada in 2006 set at 100. Rates are per 100,000 people living in the police service's area, so places with many visitors, commuters or seasonal homes read high, and in small places a few incidents swing the figures a lot. These are crimes reported to police, not all crime.

In BC only Surrey, the Township of Langley, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam publish reported property crime block by block under an open licence; reports there count what was reported within 500 m of the lot. The police here don't, so the figures above are for the whole area they cover.

Police calls to a particular address aren't published in BC (privacy law keeps police records about identifiable people closed), and neither is whether a home was used as a grow-op or drug lab: that shows up as a notice on the title. Ask the seller for the Property Disclosure Statement, and your lawyer for the title search.