Zone

DD (Comprehensive Development)

Zoning bylaw

Zoning and Development By-law No. 3575

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

Not this floor here: the lot is in a tier 1 transit-oriented area (our reading; see the transit-oriented area line), where the Province's transit-oriented area rules apply instead of the small-scale multi-unit housing floor (B.C. Reg. 262/2023 s. 3).

Transit-oriented area (provincial minimum)

Tier 1 (our reading): the lot is about 100 m from Burrard Station, a SkyTrain station the Province prescribes (also near Vancouver City Centre Station, Granville Station, Waterfront Station). On land in a transit-oriented area zoned for any homes, Vancouver can't use its zoning to hold a building below a floor area ratio of 5.0 or 20 storeys (Vancouver Charter s. 565.001, B.C. Reg. 265/2023 s. 5). The zone itself isn't changed: a building that size may still need a rezoning or permits, and the minimum doesn't apply where the zone allows homes only alongside industry or farming. It applies in the area Vancouver designated by bylaw (required by June 30, 2024); distances are our measure from the regulation's station points, checked 2026-10-06. Confirm with Vancouver's planning department.

Short-term rentals (provincial rule)

The Province's principal residence requirement applies in Vancouver (list in force from June 1, 2026): a short-term rental (under 90 days) is limited to the host's own home plus one secondary suite or garden suite on the same property. Land assessed as a farm (class 9) is exempt. Local bylaws, including the zone's own rules, can be stricter. Hosts anywhere in BC register each unit with the provincial registry.

We haven't summarised the rules of this zone. The bylaw is linked below.

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 Vancouver's development, buildings and licensing 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.

Clear of steep slope and water setbacks

6,970 m² (92%)

In or within 30 m of mapped water

0%

Steeper than 30%, outside that strip

8%

15 to 30% slope

31%

On designated floodplain (counted as clear)

0%

Median slope

12%

Main slope direction

No main direction: the slopes face several ways; measured by us on NRCan's lidar elevation model (Lower Mainland survey, 2016; 2 m grid)

Which way it faces

11% south (SE to SW), 25% north (NW to NE), 22% flat; the rest east or west

Terrain stability (Province's map)

The Province's terrain stability mapping doesn't cover this lot: it was mapped from air photos, mostly on forest land, so most towns and farmland aren't on it. That says nothing either way about the ground's stability

Estimated by us on Natural Resources Canada's lidar elevation model, from the Lower Mainland survey (2016): bare ground with buildings and trees taken out, read here on a 2 m grid, one dot on the plan per cell. Retaining walls, road cuts and ditches count as steep ground, and earthworks since the survey aren't shown. Slopes over 30% usually need a geotechnical engineer's report to build on; 15 to 30% is buildable with more work.

Not counted: zoning setbacks from the lot lines, room for a septic field and well (the Septic section screens for a field), easements and rights of way, and the local government's own slope or hazard development permit areas. What you can build names them where the local government publishes its map. A surveyor and the local government confirm where you can build.

December 21 (shortest day)

7 h 40 min of possible direct sun; 8 h on open ground

March 21 (about the same on September 21)

11 h 40 min; 12 h on open ground

June 21 (longest day)

15 h 30 min; 16 h on open ground

Noon sun on December 21

17° above level; the hills due south rise to 1°, 0.4 km away

Highest hills in the winter sun's path

2° above level to the south-west, 0.1 km away

Measured at

The middle of the lot, ground at about 24 m, from head height

Solar panel output (south-facing, tilted at the latitude)

About 980 kWh a year for each kW of panels (December about 30), on Natural Resources Canada's 1998-2022 sunshine map; the sun on the panel's face is 3.59 kWh/m² a day over the year, 1.30 in December

Water the ground lets you see (16 km)

The sea (our reading of the elevation model) to the north-northeast, from about 500 m away, across about 135° of the horizon; Lost Lagoon to the northwest, from about 1.8 km away; Capilano River to the north, from about 4.6 km away, across about 15° of the horizon; Lynn Creek to the east-northeast, from about 6.2 km away, across about 10° of the horizon; Seymour River to the east-northeast, from about 7.9 km away; and 1 more

Highest skyline

6° above level to the north-northeast, 10.7 km away

Named peaks in view (150 km)

Slesse Mountain to the east-southeast, 115 km away (about 2,278 m); Canadian Border Peak to the east-southeast, 110 km away (about 2,180 m); Mount McGuire to the east-southeast, 102 km away (about 1,963 m); Crossover Peak to the east-southeast, 114 km away (about 2,108 m); Mount MacFarlane to the east-southeast, 112 km away (about 2,034 m); and 31 more

Highest ground in view

About 2,447 m, to the east-southeast, 110 km away

Farthest ground in view

About 124 km to the east-southeast: Mount Webb

Most relief in one direction

To the east-southeast: from about 14 m, 3.7 km away, up to about 2,447 m, 110 km away

Town centres in line of sight

None within 150 km, over the bare ground

City lights in direct line (150 km)

In direct line (our reading): the lights of North Vancouver to the east, 3.5 km (217 nW/cm²/sr at the brightest in line, like a city centre); the lights of Vancouver to the east, 3.5 km (179 nW/cm²/sr at the brightest in line, like a city centre); the lights of Burnaby to the east-southeast, 9.2 km (108 nW/cm²/sr at the brightest in line, like a city centre); the lights of West Vancouver to the north, 4.5 km (59 nW/cm²/sr at the brightest in line, like a city's busy streets); and 3 more

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.

The panel output is our reading of Natural Resources Canada's figures: its map gives the sun reaching a south-facing panel tilted at the latitude, averaged over 1998-2022 on a grid of about 10 km, and we turn it into kWh for each kW of panels at the performance ratio its Photovoltaic Potential maps use (0.75: losses in heat, wiring, the inverter and dirt). The map is for an open sky: the hills around the lot, trees, buildings and snow on the panels aren't counted. A solar installer measures the roof or the spot itself.

What the ground allows you to see from head height at the middle of the lot, read by us on the same elevation model as the sun hours, out to 16 km: trees, buildings and the house's own spot and height aren't counted, so a view the ground allows can be hidden by the forest, and a second storey can see over a rise. Lakes and rivers are the Freshwater Atlas's; the sea is read where the elevation model sits at sea level.

Peaks, towns and the farthest ground are read by us out to 150 km on the same elevation model, coarser past 16 km (cells of 240 m to 60 km, 480 m beyond), with the curve of the earth and the usual bending of light: summits read lower than they are at that scale, so a peak only counts when it clears the ground before it, and one at the very edge of the skyline may be left out. It's what the bare ground allows on a perfectly clear day: haze, smoke, cloud, trees and buildings aren't counted. Peak names are BC Geographical Names'; peaks outside BC aren't named.

City lights in direct line are our reading: the satellite's lit cells (15 nW/cm²/sr and up, the brightness of a town centre or more) within 150 km, each named after the nearest town centre within 8 km, and a town counted when one of its brightest cells, taken 10 m above the ground, clears the bare ground before it on the same elevation model as the long view. It says where lights are in a straight line, not how bright they look: the glow a town throws over a ridge isn't modelled, so a town behind the hills can still light the sky above them, and haze, trees and buildings aren't counted.

Dams nearby

None within 1 km on the Province's list of dams

Dikes nearby

None within 1 km on the Province's map of dikes and flood protection works

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)

0.47 g

Peak ground acceleration, 10% in 50 years

0.24 g

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

1.08 g

Peak ground acceleration, 2% in 50 years, on softer ground

0.51 g on stiff soil (site class D), 0.51 g on soft soil, about the same as on firm ground

The same value in city centres

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

Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more recorded since 1985

26 within 50 km and 148 within 100 km

Largest within 100 km

M4.9 in April 1990, about 85 km away

Nearest of magnitude 3 or more

M3.6 in October 2024, about 35 km away (NRCan: 31 km SW of Vancouver, BC, felt)

Distance to the ocean shore

About 300 m from the lot line (Freshwater Atlas coastline)

Tsunami notification zone

Zone E: the Strait of Georgia, including the Gulf Islands, Greater Vancouver and Johnstone Strait (the Province's zone for alerts on this coast)

Ground at the lot's middle

About 24 m above sea level (NRCan's 30 m elevation model; our reading, not a survey)

These are the 2020 National Building Code's reference values at the lot's centre, on firm ground (site class C), with the values the code gives stiff soil (D) and soft soil (E) beside them. Which class the lot's ground is isn't on any open map: the site class and the values a building is designed for come from the building official or a geotechnical engineer. Very soft ground, peat or fill that can liquefy (site class F) needs a site-specific assessment.

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.

Past earthquakes are those Natural Resources Canada's National Earthquake Database records within 100 km of the lot's middle since 1985, the start of its digital record, at magnitude 2.5 and up; blasts, mining events (tremors set off in a mine) and slides are left out. The seismograph network has grown much denser since then, so smaller quakes found today would have gone unrecorded in the 1980s, and positions are good to a few kilometres. A count of past quakes isn't a measure of the hazard: the building code's values above are.

The Province divides the coast into five tsunami notification zones so a warning, advisory or watch can name the coast it's for; they're drawn over the water and aren't a map of what a tsunami would flood. How high and how far inland water could reach here depends on the shore and the local government's own modelling: ask it whether it has a tsunami flood or evacuation map for the lot, and where its high ground is. The height is NRCan's 30 m model at the lot's middle, so a lower corner or a building's floor can sit lower.

The Province's advice near the coast: if you feel a strong earthquake, drop, cover and hold on, then as soon as the shaking stops go to high ground or as far inland as you can, by your community's evacuation route where it has one, and stay there until officials give the all clear. A tsunami from a nearby earthquake can arrive in minutes.

On record on the lot or within 100 m

0

On record within 1 km

0

On record within 5 km

2

Nearest

3.4 km from the lot: a debris slide, 21 Dec 2025 (listed under “Stanley Park debris slide”)

Kinds within 5 km

debris slide 1, rock fall 1

With a date

2 of 2; the latest 21 Dec 2025 (debris slide, 3.4 km from the lot)

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)

Vancouver

Homes tested here

83

At or above 200 Bq/m³ (the guideline)

1 (1.2%)

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.

Open sites (active or suspected) within 500 m

0

Open sites within 2 km

1

Closed sites within 2 km

17

Vancouver (false Creek)

2 km from the lot. Active: contamination confirmed, work under way; medium priority for action. Found or suspected: metals in sediment and other medium. Remedial action plan completed. Remediation / risk management underway. Federal custodian: Fisheries and Oceans Canada; site 00021451.

Pacific RHQ Vancouver, 401 Burrard Street - Unassessed

180 m from the lot. Closed: no further action needed. Historical review not required. Federal custodian: Fisheries and Oceans Canada; site 00021251.

Vancouver N Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission - Unassessed

280 m from the lot. Closed: no further action needed. Historical review not required. Federal custodian: Fisheries and Oceans Canada; site 00020886.

Vancouver John Robson Place PSC - Unassessed

310 m from the lot. Closed: no further action needed. Historical review not required. Federal custodian: Fisheries and Oceans Canada; site 00021135.

Vancouver, PFRCC, Resource Conserv. Council - Unassessed

350 m from the lot. Closed: no further action needed. Historical review not required. Federal custodian: Fisheries and Oceans Canada; site 00021180.

Not listed here

13 more within 2 km

Unexploded ordnance (UXO) sites DND lists for this place

6 sites we place in Vancouver by name (our reading): Vancouver - Jericho Beach PBR (closed), Vancouver - Lapointe Pier Ordnance Depot (in assessment), Vancouver - Narrows North Bridge CD Battery (in assessment) and Vancouver - Spanish Banks Demolitions Training (in assessment) and 2 more. DND publishes no locations, so whether one reaches the lot is unclear: ask DND (uxocanada@forces.gc.ca).

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.

Closed means the custodian found no further action needed after testing, cleanup or risk management; it doesn't always mean nothing is left in the ground. The priority class is the federal ranking of its own sites for funding and action, not a measure of risk to neighbours.

DND's list gives each site's name, province and status only: no map, outline or coordinates. So a report can't say whether a site reaches a lot; we place each site in a place by the name DND gives it (our reading), and a site named for a town may lie outside its limits. If you see something that could be UXO, don't touch it: remember where it is, leave the area and call 911 or the local police. DND asks anyone planning to build, demolish, work the ground or extract resources in a former military area to contact it first; some work needs UXO-qualified people on site or on call. (Our summary of DND's UXO pages, read 2026-10-13.)

Confirm with the local government and a qualified environmental professional.

At-risk species or ecosystems on the parcel

None recorded

Within 500 m

None recorded

Wide-ranging species mapped over it

Pacific Sandpirate (Red-listed)

Secured records in the wider area

No

Wildlife Habitat Area over the parcel

No

Ungulate winter range over the parcel

No

Proposed Wildlife Habitat Area over the parcel

No

Proposed ungulate winter range over the parcel

No

Federal critical habitat over the lot

None on the federal map

Sensitive ecosystems mapped on the lot

Not mapped here: the lot isn't covered by any of the Province's sensitive ecosystem inventories (checked 2026-10-11)

Invasive plants recorded on the lot

None on the Province's list

Invasive plants recorded within 100 m

None on the Province's list

CFIA regulated pest areas at the lot

Japanese beetle regulated area (2023 order): moving plants with soil, soil-related matter or growing media (such as peat moss or bark mulch) attached out of the area needs a CFIA movement certificate, year-round

CFIA regulated pest areas at the lot

Emerald ash borer regulated area (2026 order): ash wood of any kind (trees, nursery stock, logs, branches, lumber, chips, firewood) can't leave the area without CFIA's written consent, other firewood only through a CFIA-registered facility, and yard waste not at all

Red-listed species are at risk of being lost from BC; Blue-listed are of special concern. A record shows where the species was found, sometimes decades ago; no record doesn't mean nothing lives here, since most land has never been surveyed.

Species at risk can still limit building through local environmental development permit areas: ask the local government before planning work.

Critical habitat for some sensitive species is kept off the public map; Environment and Climate Change Canada's Species at Risk Public Registry has each species' recovery strategy.

The Province's records come from invasive plant surveys, mostly since 2022, along roads, trails and shores and wherever crews were sent; no record doesn't mean no invasive plants. A record marks where a plant was found that day; it may since have been treated.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency re-issues these areas each year and its map can lag its pages: check the current boundaries on its Japanese beetle and emerald ash borer regulated areas pages (under Sources), and confirm with CFIA before moving plants, soil or wood out of an area. The rules are our summary of CFIA's pages, read 2026-10-13.

Cutblocks applied for (1 km)

0

Approved, not yet logged (1 km)

0

Logged in the last 5 years (1 km)

0

Trails on the Province's maps (1 km)

An unnamed footpath (a footpath on OpenStreetMap): drawn across the lot for about 45 m (our reading)

Crown land applications (1 km)

None

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

None

Along the lot line

No parcel mapped along about 85% of the lot line (the north, south and west sides), most often a road allowance, water or Crown land the parcel map doesn't draw (our reading); private land along about 15% of the lot line (the east side)

Rights of way and easements drawn on the lot

One on ParcelMap BC: plan EPP133426 over under 1% of the lot (measured by us)

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 Vancouver what's in progress on and near the lot

Building permits on this lot

Addition or alteration to a restaurant - class 1, issued August 2026; Addition or alteration to a general office, issued March 2026; Addition or alteration to a digital entertain. info comm. technology, issued March 2026

Building permits the City issued within 200 m (2 years)

87 additions or alterations (52 of $100,000 or more) around the lot

Nearest power line (200 m)

None mapped within 200 m

Oil and gas pipelines (200 m)

None within 200 m on the BC Energy Regulator's permit map

Permitted discharges to air, water and land (2 km)

A sewage treatment or discharge, about 400 m from the lot line, may discharge to water or land (effluent), registered under the Municipal Wastewater Regulation (authorization 18362, 2007); A power plant, about 720 m from the lot line, may discharge to water or land (effluent), under a permit (authorization 7944, 1988); A wood-waste landfill, about 1,400 m from the lot line, may discharge to land (refuse), under a permit (authorization 11628, 1992); A hazardous waste storage or treatment, about 1,450 m from the lot line, registered under the Hazardous Waste Regulation (authorization 12224, 2004); A concrete plant, about 1,900 m from the lot line, may discharge to water or land (effluent), under a permit (authorization 2300, 1974)

Military land (2 km)

HMCS Discovery, about 770 m from the lot line

Major projects in assessment (10 km)

None

Major projects approved (10 km)

Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion (shoreline modification; about 690 m away; certificate issued Jul 28, 2004, operating); Canada Line Rapid Transit (railway; about 9.3 km away; certificate issued Jun 7, 2005, operating)

Reviewed, no assessment needed (10 km)

Centerm Expansion (marine port facility; about 2.2 km away; reviewed Jan 29, 2019: no assessment needed, not yet built); Point Grey Tidal Marsh (shoreline modification; about 9.3 km away; reviewed Sep 19, 2016: no assessment needed); Richmond Island Milltown Marina and Boatyard (shoreline modification; about 9.4 km away; reviewed Apr 27, 2012: no assessment needed)

Closed or not reviewable (10 km)

Parkland Burnaby Refinery (oil refinery; about 9.6 km away; found not to need an assessment 2021 (it may still go ahead under other permits))

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.

OpenStreetMap's paths are mapped by volunteers: town walkways and greenways, footpaths and cycle paths the Province's maps don't hold, with sidewalks left out; only a path across the lot or along its line is listed. The Province's two maps draw trails on Crown land: one drawn across a titled lot is most often a mapping offset or a line that predates the title, and a trail on the map isn't a right to cross private land. A right of way on title is in the title search; ask the seller about people using a trail along or across the lot (our reading). Our summary, read 2026-10-13.

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, grazed 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.

A right of way or easement drawn on ParcelMap BC is the plan of one registered against the titles: it shows where the strip runs, not who holds it or what it allows. Those are in the charge on the title (a statutory right of way for a utility or the local government, an easement for a neighbour's access or a shared driveway), which a lawyer, notary or the seller can pull with the title. Charges with no plan, such as a covenant over the whole lot, aren't drawn at all.

An issued permit means the City allowed the work, not that it has started or is finished; permits are placed at their address point, so distances are to that point, measured by us. The City's applications for rezoning and development permits aren't in this list: its Shape Your City pages and the development applications map list those. Our summary, checked 2026-10-11.

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.

Permitted discharges are from the Province's list of active waste discharge authorizations under the Environmental Management Act: permits, approvals and operational certificates, and sites registered under its regulations and codes of practice (sewage, fuel storage, vehicle recycling, concrete, asphalt, composting and others). Each is one point the Province gives for the site, which can be a plant's office or an outfall rather than the ground worked; distances are measured by us from the lot line to that point. Metro Vancouver issues its own air quality permits, which aren't on this list, and the Province's Site Registry of contaminated sites charges for searches and isn't shown here.

An authorization sets what may be discharged, how much and on what conditions; it doesn't mean the site is out of compliance. The Province's Authorization Management System search shows each authorization's documents by its number. Odour, dust and noise are often for the local government too: ask the regional district or city, and the Province's environmental protection office about the authorization.

Military land is OpenStreetMap's landuse=military, mapped by volunteers: bases, firing ranges, training areas and armouries. An outline can be rough, and land the Department of National Defence holds can be missing from it. A range or training area nearby can mean firing or exercise noise and closed ground at times; the base's public affairs office can say when it's used. Old training ground the Department lists for unexploded ordnance is under Federal contaminated sites.

Nearest railway (2 km)

A rapid transit line (SkyTrain Expo Line, British Columbia Rapid Transit Company), about 570 m from the lot line

Nearest main railway line

A main railway line (Cascade Subdivision, Canadian Pacific Kansas City), about 580 m from the lot line

Nearest highway or major road (2 km)

Burrard Street, a major road, about 100 m from the lot line

Nearest freeway or highway

West Georgia Street (Highway 99), a highway, about 120 m from the lot line

Nearest airport or airstrip (2 km)

Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre (CXH), about 400 m from the lot line. Statistics Canada counted about 58,100 takeoffs and landings there in the 12 months to July 2026

Light at night (within 1 km, 2024)

108 nW/cm²/sr, like a city centre, as around downtown Victoria or Prince George (our reading); brighter than nearly all of BC's homes.

Aircraft accidents recorded within 2 km (since 1995)

7, per the Transportation Safety Board; the latest in June 2024: a plane, at Vancouver Harbour; TSB occurrence A24P0060.

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.

Light at night is what the VIIRS satellite records looking down at about 1:30 a.m., averaged over the cloud-free nights of 2024, with fires, the northern lights and other passing light left out (the Earth Observation Group's yearly composite); its cells are about 460 m by 300 m in BC. We give the median of the cells within 1 km of the lot's middle, in nanowatts per square centimetre per steradian (rounded to whole numbers), set against the same figure at BC's homes (Statistics Canada's 2021 dwellings on ISED's points) and named after places that read alike (our reading). It is light going up, not how dark the sky looks from the ground: a nearby town's glow on the horizon, the moon, a neighbour's yard light and the trees aren't in it, and it says nothing of light at other hours. For stargazing, look at the sky from the lot on a clear, moonless night. This product was made utilizing VIIRS Nighttime Lights data produced by the Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines.

Aircraft accidents are the Transportation Safety Board of Canada's record of occurrences it classes as accidents in BC since 1995, incidents left out. The TSB gives most positions to the nearest minute of latitude and longitude, up to about 1 km off, or at the aerodrome's own point, so an accident is counted when its given position is within 2 km of the lot line, and never placed on the lot. A count of past accidents, not a measure of risk or noise.

Community water

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

Wells within 2 km

0

Median depth

–

Median tested yield

–

Median water level below ground

–

Mapped aquifer under the lot

None mapped

Sea water intrusion

Low (1 on the Province's scale of five, Low to High) for the bedrock aquifer under the lot in the 2021 assessment, rated on the aquifer's setting (its material, slope, distance from the sea and ground water level) and pumping nearby (how many wells, and what for), plus the coast's flood hazard and shape (per the Province's map)

Groundwater level trend

No provincial observation well still measured in the aquifer under the lot or within 10 km

Groundwater quality tested nearby

No well within 10 km of the lot in the Province's monitoring records since 2000. Test your own well, for bacteria and these, at an accredited lab; your health authority can say which labs take samples from private wells.

Drinking-water protection zone

None over the lot on the Province's map (it holds only the zones a water system's protection plan has mapped, so many wells and intakes have none on it)

Water systems' wells and intakes within 300 m

None on the Province's list

Community watershed

None over the lot on the Province's map

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.

The Province's map is a regional screening of how easily sea water could be drawn into a coastal aquifer, not a test of any well. Near the sea, fresh ground water floats on salt water, and a well near the shore can turn salty with pumping, its own or its neighbours'; once in, the salt can take years to clear or stay for good, and a well must not be run in a way that draws it in (Water Sustainability Act, s. 58). The Province advises well owners near the coast to test for chloride and electrical conductivity once a year, in the dry season: a well over 150 mg/L of chloride or 1,000 µS/cm counts as affected, and water tastes salty from about 250 mg/L. For a property on a well here, ask for chloride and conductivity in the well water test. Our summary, read 2026-10-07.

Health Canada's Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality set the most a drinking water should hold: arsenic 0.010 mg/L, fluoride 1.5 mg/L, manganese 0.12 mg/L (and 0.02 mg/L for taste and for staining laundry and fixtures), uranium 0.02 mg/L, nitrate 10 mg/L as nitrogen (45 mg/L as nitrate) and lead 0.005 mg/L, with arsenic and lead kept as low as reasonably achievable. Our summary of Health Canada's summary table, read 2026-10-11.

Community sewer

No open map of the City of Vancouver's sewer service: ask the City of Vancouver 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

Within the setbacks, under 15% slope (gravity fields, mounds and trenches)

3,850 m² (51%)

Within the setbacks, under 25% slope (mounds, at-grade beds and trenches)

5,790 m² (76%)

Within the setbacks, under 45% slope (trenches)

6,240 m² (82%)

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

St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver: 900 m

Next nearest hospital

Vancouver General Hospital: 2.8 km

Nearest emergency department

St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver: 900 m. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Nearest children's emergency department

BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver: 4.6 km. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Nearest walk-in clinic

Downtown Vancouver Medical Clinic: 100 m. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: Mon to Fri 10:00 to 17:00, Sat 10:00 to 16:00. Note that hours are subject to physician availability and patient volume. Closed statutory holidays

Nearest pharmacy

Pharmasave, Vancouver: 200 m. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: Mon to Fri 07:30 to 17:00

Nearest late-night or 24-hour pharmacy

Shoppers Drug Mart, Vancouver: 300 m. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: Mon to Sun 09:00 to 24:00

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

King George Secondary, Vancouver: 1.2 km

Nearest public secondary school

Britannia Community Secondary, Vancouver: 3.8 km

Nearest public school with early French immersion

Lord Strathcona Community Elementary, Vancouver: 2.2 km

Nearest francophone school (Conseil scolaire francophone)

Rose-des-vents, Vancouver: 5.6 km

Independent schools within 10 km

69

Nearest licensed group child care

Coastal Preschool: 300 m

Licensed group child care within 1 km

5: by the ages their operators list, 1 preschool (4 list none); all take part in the fee reduction (CCFRI)

Licensed group child care within 2 km

10: by the ages their operators list, 2 preschool (8 list none); all take part in the fee reduction (CCFRI)

Licensed family child care within about 2 km

18, in the providers' homes

Nearest grocery store

Fujiya: 100 m

Grocery stores within 10 km

192

Nearest fire station

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services Hall 7 Downtown: 500 m, on the Province's list

Nearest fire hydrant

Not said: we have no open hydrant map of the City of Vancouver; ask its fire department where the nearest hydrant is

Nearest ambulance station

Ambulance station 248, Vancouver: 2.4 km

Nearest police detachment or station

Vancouver: 1.7 km

Nearest community policing office

Waterfront Police Community Policing, Vancouver: 500 m

Nearest transfer station or landfill

A transfer station (no name on the map): 1.9 km

Nearest post office

Canada Post: 100 m

Postal area

V6E: an urban postal area: homes mostly get mail at the door or a community mailbox (our reading). The lot is near the area's edge, so its postal code may start differently.

Nearest gas station

Chevron: 900 m

Nearest Service BC office

Service BC - Vancouver: 500 m

Nearest ferry terminal

Hullo - Vancouver: 500 m. Crossings from it on OpenStreetMap: Nanaimo Harbour ↔ Coal Harbour (Hullo Ferries)

Nearest airport with screened airline flights

Vancouver airport (YVR): 11 km

Nearest transit stop

Burrard Station @ Bay 3: 60 m, route 22; 88 departures on a weekday, 74 on Saturday, 71 on Sunday (TransLink's schedule, week of October 19, 2026)

Busiest stop within 500 m

Burrard Station: 140 m, route Expo Line; 857 departures on a weekday, 695 on Saturday, 593 on Sunday (TransLink's schedule, week of October 19, 2026)

Transit stops within 500 m

40

Nearest park or protected area

Cypress Park, a provincial park: 9.8 km from the lot line

Nearest recreation site or trail

None within 25 km on the Province's list

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; emergency departments and walk-in clinics from HealthLink BC's lists, with the hours they give. Not every hospital has a 24-hour emergency department, and a small town's emergency department can close for a shift when it's short of staff: the health authority posts these as service changes, so check before you rely on one. In an emergency, call 9-1-1.

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

French programs are from the Ministry's school list. French immersion usually takes students by application or lottery, often with its own boundary, and the Conseil scolaire francophone's schools are for children whose parents have the right to French-language education: ask the district which applies.

Child care is from the Province's Child Care Map Data, listed October 13, 2026: licensed facilities the Province funds, so a licensed one without that funding, or a licence-not-required carer, isn't on it. The ages served and any space are what each operator reports, and many list no ages. A space reported weeks ago may be gone: ask the facility about spaces and wait lists.

The fee reduction is the Province's Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative (CCFRI): a facility taking part charges lower monthly fees for children up to kindergarten age (our summary).

Licensed family child care is in the provider's own home, so we count it but don't name or place it. It's counted on a grid of about 1 km, so the count near 2 km is approximate (our reading).

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.

Insurers ask how far the house is from a hydrant as well as from the fire hall that responds: ask yours what distance it uses and what that does to the premium.

Fire halls, ambulance stations and police 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.

A detachment is where police are based; it isn't always the force that covers the lot, and a community policing office is often volunteer-run with no officers on hand. Ask the local government which police serve the lot. In an emergency, call 9-1-1.

Pharmacies are from HealthLink BC's list, with the hours it gives: a few pharmacies are in clinics or programs for their own patients, and hours change, so call ahead.

Transit stops and departures are counted by us from BC Transit's and TransLink's published schedules for one week, leaving out the stop where a trip ends. A stop's distance is a straight line from the middle of the lot; the walk is longer. Service changes with the seasons: check the timetable before you count on a route.

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.

Ferry schedules, fares and reservations aren't shown. Check the operator (BC Ferries, or for an inland crossing the Ministry of Transportation and Transit's inland ferries page) before you count on a sailing: many routes run fewer sailings in winter.

Grocery stores, transfer stations, landfills, recycling depots, post offices, gas stations, ferry terminals, ferry crossings are from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers: one may be missing, closed or mapped in the wrong place, and a landfill may be closed without the map saying so (our reading).

The postal area is Statistics Canada's outline of where a postal code's first three characters are used, drawn from postal code points, so near its edge the lot may fall in the next one. It doesn't say how this lot's mail is delivered: ask Canada Post, and give a courier or online store the full postal code to see what they charge.

Airports with screened airline flights are the ones the CATSA Aerodrome Designation Regulations list, where the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority screens passengers, kept where OurAirports also lists scheduled flights (Dawson Creek is designated but has none listed). Smaller airports and floatplane bases with scheduled flights aren't screened and aren't on this list, so a nearer one may have flights: check with the airlines. Distances are straight lines; the drive, or a ferry, is longer.

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

Mobile carriers listed in the area around the lot (about 25 km²)

Bell and Telus (one shared network), Rogers, Freedom Mobile (ISED, reported, not a guarantee at the lot)

Nearest FM radio transmitter

CIWV-FM, 98.3 MHz FM, 1.7 kW, at Vancouver, about 200 m to the south-east; the bare ground doesn't block the line to it (our reading, terrain only)

Nearest TV transmitter

CHAN-DT, TV channel 22 (digital), 125 kW, at Vancouver, about 13 km to the east-north-east

Bell satellite TV dish sightline

82° W sits 21° up to the south-east, clear of the hills by 21°; 91.1° W sits 26° up to the south-east, clear of the hills by 25° (terrain only; our reading)

Shaw Direct satellite TV dish sightline

107.3° W sits 32° up to the south-south-east, clear of the hills by 31°; 111.1° W sits 32° up to the south-south-east, clear of the hills by 32° (terrain only; our reading)

Starlink: sky hidden by the hills

The hills stay under 20° all round, so terrain shouldn't block it (trees and buildings not counted; our reading)

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.

Mobile carriers are those Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) lists for mobile service in its hexagon of about 25 km² holding the lot's middle; ISED counts LTE and 5G together and doesn't say how much of the hexagon a carrier covers, so a listed carrier may not reach the lot, the house or the valley floor. Cell tower positions aren't open data. Ask the carriers, or try a phone on site.

Broadcast transmitters are from ISED's Spectrum Management System extract: the nearest FM and TV transmitters in operation within 50 km of the lot's middle, with their effective radiated power. Whether the bare ground blocks the line is our reading on the elevation model the Winter sun section reads (out to 16 km round the lot; hills beyond it aren't counted); trees, buildings and an antenna's height on the house aren't, and reception also depends on power, distance and the receiver.

Satellite sightlines are our reading: each geostationary satellite's place in the sky from the lot's middle (Telesat's orbital slots, read 2026-10-13) set against the skyline the Winter sun section reads on NRCan's elevation model, in 72 directions out to 16 km. Trees and buildings, which most often decide whether a dish sees its satellite, aren't counted, and a dish can sit higher or elsewhere on the lot. Starlink asks for a clear view of the sky from about 20° above the horizon and picks its own direction: its app's obstruction check on site is the real test.

Nearest climate station

Vancouver Harbour, 1 km away

Station elevation

2 m

Lot elevation (estimated, middle of the lot)

24 m

January mean temperature (1991-2020)

5.3 °C

July mean temperature (1991-2020)

19.0 °C

Yearly precipitation, rain and snow as water (1991-2020)

1,537 mm*

Lowest temperature recorded, 1991-2020

−9.0 °C (2008)

Days a year over 30 °C (1991-2020)

0.8 days, no days of them over 35 °C*

Highest temperature recorded, 1991-2020

34.9 °C (2009)

Wettest day recorded, 1991-2020

141.8 mm of rain and melted snow, October 16, 2003

Heating degree days, below 18 °C (1991-2020)

2,491 a year*

Growing degree days, above 5 °C (1991-2020)

2,459 a year; 1,147 above 10 °C*

Period

1991-2020

Plant hardiness zone (regional)

9a

By the 2050s, days a year over 30 °C (model projection, SSP2-4.5)

About 5 more days over 30 °C a year than in the same models' 1971-2000

By the 2050s, longest frost-free run (model projection, SSP2-4.5)

A longest frost-free run about 65 days longer than in the same models' 1971-2000

By the 2050s, winter precipitation falling as snow (model projection, SSP2-4.5)

About 6 percentage points less of winter's precipitation falling as snow than in the same models' 1971-2000

Days with fine particles over BC's air objective level

A median of 2 days a year at the Vancouver Clark Drive station, 4.3 km away (2016 to 2025); the most was 13 days in 2017, most in August

Lightning near the lot (1998-2025 average)

A cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 3 days a year; 0.02 flashes per km² a year, less than at half of BC homes

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.

The records are single days measured at the station: the most rain, snow and wind it saw in 1991-2020. Each is one event, not what to expect in a year, and the lot can get more or less than the station.

ECCC's 1991-2020 normals for this station don't include yearly snowfall, the frost-free period or days with snow on the ground, so those are left out rather than guessed.

A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below or above a base, added up over the year. Heating degree days below 18 °C follow how much a home needs heating: a place with 5,000 needs roughly half again the heat of one with 3,300, for the same house. Growing degree days above 5 °C (10 °C for warm-season crops such as corn and grapes) follow how much warmth plants get to grow.

Model projections, not predictions of the weather: the median of 26 climate models downscaled by Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (CanDCS-M6), for 2041-2070 under SSP2-4.5, a middle path for emissions. Each is given as the change from the same models' 1971-2000, not against a station's normals: in the mountains the models' figures can sit well off a valley station's, and the change between the two periods says more than either number. The frost-free run is the longest stretch of days with the low at or above 0 °C. The share of winter's precipitation falling as snow is our reading: each model's December to February snowfall over its precipitation, then the median across the models.

The models work on a grid of about 9 by 6 km, which averages valley floors with the slopes around them, so their own figures can sit well off a station's normals and aren't comparable with them. The models' own figures here, for setting against each other only: about 6 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 3 to 15 across the models), against about 1 in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 300 days (range 275 to 320), against about 235; and about 4% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 2% to 6%), against about 10%. The range runs from the 10th to the 90th percentile of the models' 2041-2070 figure; it isn't a range of the change.

At the Vancouver Clark Drive station, 4.3 km away, fine particles passed the level of BC's 24-hour objective (25 µg/m³) on a median of 2 days a year over the 10 years with a full record, 2016 to 2025; the most was 13 days in 2017, most of them in August. Most of these days fell from June to September, the wildfire season (our reading: mostly wildfire smoke).

The days are counted by us from the Province's verified hourly readings: a day counts when the station has 18 or more valid hours and their mean is over 25 µg/m³, the level of BC's Ambient Air Quality Objective for fine particles over 24 hours (the Province judges the objective itself on a year's 98th percentile of daily averages, not on single days), and a year counts when the station ran most of it, July to September included. They are the station's days, not this lot's: smoke drifts unevenly, and a lot up a valley or across a lake from the station can be clearer or smokier.

BC's air quality advisories and the Air Quality Health Index say what the air is like now; a HEPA filter and a home with a ventilation system that can recirculate help on smoky days.

Lightning is the Canadian Lightning Detection Network's cloud-to-ground flashes, averaged over 1998-2025, on Environment and Climate Change Canada's grid of 0.1 degrees (about 11 km north to south and 7 km east to west in BC): it is the area's lightning, not the lot's. A day counts when a flash fell in a grid cell whose middle is within 10 km of the middle of the lot's cell, by the Pacific standard time day (our reading); flashes per km² are for the lot's own cell. Set among BC's homes by Statistics Canada's 2021 dwellings on ISED's points. Lightning starts fires and can damage a well pump, panels or wiring on high open ground; ask an electrician about surge protection.

Recent years have run warmer than the 1991-2020 averages in much of BC. Ask neighbours or the local government about snow on the road and who clears it.

Place

Vancouver

In the taxable area

Yes

Rate, 2026

1% of the assessed value for Canadian citizens and permanent residents, 3% for foreign owners and untaxed worldwide earners (4% from 2027)

Declare by

March 31 each year, for the year before

Also here

City of Vancouver's Empty Homes Tax

The tax applies to property BC Assessment classes as residential; exemptions also cover a newly bought home in its first year, a home being built or rebuilt, a home reached only by water and over 100 m from a road, and a property assessed at $150,000 or less, among others. Every owner on title declares separately, each year, even when exempt. Confirm a given property with the Province's speculation and vacancy tax office.

Reserve and treaty lands, and islands reached only by air or water (Vancouver Island aside), are outside the taxable areas.

Local government

Vancouver

Residential rate, 2026

3.36266 per $1,000

Municipal

1.93406 per $1,000

Regional district

0.0526 per $1,000

Regional hospital district

0 per $1,000

School (set by the Province)

0.9791 per $1,000

Other

0.3969 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

Vancouver's municipal police

Crime severity index, 2025

89 (BC 92)

Violent / non-violent index

98 / 87 (BC 98 / 91)

Crime severity index, 2015

109 (BC 93)

Break and enter, per 100,000 people, 2025

292 (BC 281)

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

78 (BC 138)

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

729 (BC 441)

Violent crime, per 100,000 people, 2025

1,165 (BC 1,531)

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

5,978 (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.