Zone

A2 (Rural)

Zoning bylaw

Zoning Bylaw 1997, No. 2950

Homes allowed

Two homes in one residential building; on a lot of 2 ha or more, two homes in up to two buildings, the smaller an accessory home of up to 90 m² (or the size of a home authorized before September 21, 2022 that it replaces) (s. 52(4))

Exceptions (1)

• Two homes in two buildings on lots under 2 ha, or three homes, or a larger accessory home, on about 40 lots the bylaw names

Listed in s. 52(4)(f)-(m) of the bylaw.

Main uses

Farming, agricultural storage, greenhouses, forestry, riding stables, kennels (on lots of 8,000 m² or more), craft distilleries, houses and manufactured homes, bed and breakfast, home-based business, and in a house assisted living, supportive housing or a community care facility

Smallest lot for a subdivision

2 ha, with 75 m of frontage (s. 52(2), (3))

Lot coverage

10%

Height limit

9 m for buildings with homes; farm buildings under the farm building code

Setbacks

Houses: front 6 m, sides 3 m, rear 8 m; mobile homes 30 m from the front, 12 m from the sides and rear; other main buildings 25 m from the front, 15 m from the sides and rear, 30 m from residentially zoned land; accessory buildings 8 m from the front and rear, 3 m from the sides; kennels 30 m from every lot line

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 A2 zone (Rural) isn't limited to houses and duplexes (inferred from its name), 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 North Cowichan 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 applies in North Cowichan (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.

The zone is for farms, forestry and homes on rural acreage of 2 ha and more.

A detached accessory home or a duplex needs a covenant against strata titling registered before the building permit, unless it was authorized before September 21, 2022 or a building strata already exists (s. 52(4)(c), (d)).

The consolidation marks two-family dwelling "[Repealed. BL4016]" in this zone's use list while its density rules still speak of one; whether a new duplex is allowed is unclear, so ask the Municipality.

Bed and breakfast: up to six guest rooms, in at most one home and one accessory building without a kitchen (s. 52(8)(a)).

Assisted living, supportive housing and community care: up to ten residents including staff, in a house only, with the Agricultural Land Commission's approval in the ALR and health permits for the septic system (s. 52(8)(c)).

Limited farm sales: at least half of what is sold grown on the land, under 100 m² of covered sales area (s. 52(8)(b)).

Short-term rental isn't a use this zone lists; ask the Municipality of North Cowichan before renting a home short term.

Our summary of Section 52 of Zoning Bylaw 1997, No. 2950, consolidated to 2026-09-14, checked 2026-10-06. 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 North Cowichan'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)

7 h 10 min of possible direct sun; 8 h on open ground

March 21 (about the same on September 21)

10 h 40 min; 12 h on open ground

June 21 (longest day)

13 h 40 min; 16 h on open ground

Noon sun on December 21

18° above level; the hills due south rise to 4°, 0.3 km away

Highest hills in the winter sun's path

5° above level to the south, 8.7 km away

Measured at

The middle of the lot, ground at about 33 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 33), 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, 1.42 in December

Water the ground lets you see (16 km)

Cowichan River to the south-southeast, from about 50 m away, across about 125° of the horizon; Koksilah River to the east-southeast, from about 5.7 km away; the sea (our reading of the elevation model) to the east-southeast, from about 7.1 km away, across about 10° of the horizon

Highest skyline

17° above level to the north, 0 km away

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. The hills around this lot take about 11% of the direct sun on December 21 and about 15% on June 21 (our figure above), so a panel at the lot's middle would most likely make less than this, through the year (our reading; the hills block direct sun, not all the light). 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.

Capability class (1 best, 7 none)

Class 5: about 50% of the lot; Class 7: about 25% of the lot; not rated, marked as water: about 20%

What limits it

too dry in the growing season, soil holds little water, stones

Improved rating

Class 4 on most of the mapped part, assuming irrigation

Map scale

1:20,000 to 1:100,000: 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.

Fires on the parcel

0

Fires within 2 km

6

Within 2 km in the last 30 years

0

Most recent nearby

1956 (40 ha, caused by people)

Largest nearby

1951 (78 ha, caused by people)

Causes on record within 2 km

6 caused by people

Natural fire regime (the Province's ecosystem map)

NDT2, infrequent stand-initiating events: forest where large fires replaced the stand about every 200 years on average, leaving wide even-aged stands with a few older trees that survived

Biogeoclimatic unit

Coastal Douglas-fir zone, moist maritime subzone (CDFmm)

Fire perimeters mapped by the BC Wildfire Service since 1919, each with its size and the cause the Service recorded (lightning or people, sometimes unknown); older and small fires are less complete. Past fire is history, not a forecast: for insurance, ask about the fire protection area and the distance to the nearest fire hall.

The natural disturbance type is how the forest here burned, blew down or otherwise renewed itself before logging and fire suppression, from the Province's biogeoclimatic map and its Biodiversity Guidebook (1995). It describes the land around the lot over centuries, not the lot's own fire risk or the odds of a fire in any year; the Province's fire threat rating and fuel maps aren't open data. Our summary, checked 2026-10-11.

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

0.70 g

Peak ground acceleration, 10% in 50 years

0.37 g

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

1.63 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

1

Nearest

1.1 km from the lot: an earth slide, 15 Nov 2021, after rainfall (listed under “Cowichan”)

Kinds within 5 km

earth slide 1

With a date

1 of 1; the latest 15 Nov 2021 (earth slide, 1.1 km from the lot)

Recorded causes

rainfall 1

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)

Central Vancouver Island

Homes tested here

109

At or above 200 Bq/m³ (the guideline)

1 (0.9%)

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.

Nearest railway (2 km)

A railway line, about 1.4 km from the lot line

Nearest highway or major road (2 km)

Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1), a highway, about 1.6 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 District of North Cowichan's water service: ask the District of North Cowichan whether the lot is on it

Wells within 2 km

57

Median depth

23 m

Median tested yield

26 L/min (43 wells tested)

Median water level below ground

9 m

Aquifer 184 under the lot

West Duncan: unconfined sand and gravel (late glacial outwash); productivity low, vulnerability high, demand moderate; 4 wells linked, median depth 18.3 m

Observation well 430

2.6 km from the lot's middle: water level stable or no clear trend over 2014 to 2023; stable or no clear trend over 2013 to 2023; well 78 m deep (the Province's trend, records to December 2023)

Groundwater tested 1.7 km away

At a sampled well, in aquifer 182: within Health Canada's limits, in mg/L: arsenic 0.0047, fluoride 0.29, manganese 0.11, uranium 0.000005, nitrate (as nitrogen) under detection, lead 0.000009; manganese over the 0.02 mg/L taste and staining level in its one sample; 1 sample, 2014. Not this lot's water: test your own well.

Groundwater tested 1.9 km away

At a sampled well, in aquifer 183: arsenic 0.0122 mg/L, over the 0.010 mg/L limit; manganese 0.148 mg/L, over the 0.12 mg/L limit; within Health Canada's limits, in mg/L: fluoride 0.18, uranium 0.000035, nitrate (as nitrogen) 0.0029, lead 0.000008; 1 sample, 2014. Not this lot's water: test your own well.

Groundwater tested 2.4 km away

At a water system's well, in aquifer 186: within Health Canada's limits, in mg/L (medians): arsenic under detection, fluoride 0.01, manganese 0.00063, uranium under detection, nitrate (as nitrogen) 0.093, lead 0.0002; up to 9 samples, 2002 to 2014. Not this lot's water: test your own well.

More wells tested

69 more within 10 km in the Province's records, farther away or in another aquifer

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.

Observation wells are the Province's monitoring wells, their water level measured for years or decades. The trend is the Province's reading of one well's yearly levels: a decline of 3 to 10 cm a year that the record clearly shows is a moderate rate, 10 cm or more a large one, anything not clear is stable or no clear trend. It shows how the aquifer has behaved there, not what a well on this lot will give; confirm with a qualified hydrogeologist or registered well driller.

These are samples of raw water, before any treatment, from wells in the Province's environmental monitoring records since 2000: its observation wells and groundwater surveys, water systems' wells and other drinking-water wells; wells at landfills, mines and permit holders' works are left out. A result below the lab's detection limit counts at that limit. Lead mostly comes from a well's pipes and fittings rather than the aquifer. Groundwater changes over short distances and with depth, so a nearby well says what the aquifer can hold, not what a well on this lot gives. Bacteria aren't shown: they depend on how each well is built and kept.

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.

Test your own well, for bacteria and these, at an accredited lab; your health authority can say which labs take samples from private wells.

Community sewer

No open map of the District of North Cowichan's sewer service: ask the District of North Cowichan whether the lot is on it

Recorded water-supply wells within 30 m

None recorded within 30 m

Mapped water within 30 m

Cowichan River (on the parcel)

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

1,300 m² (12%)

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

2,190 m² (20%)

Within the setbacks, under 45% slope (trenches)

3,100 m² (29%)

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

Cowichan District Hospital, Duncan: 700 m

Next nearest hospital

Lady Minto/Gulf Islands Hospital, Salt Spring Island: 18 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

Khowhemun Elementary, Duncan: 700 m

Nearest public secondary school

Cowichan Open School, Duncan: 1 km

Nearest public school with early French immersion

Ecole Mount Prevost Elementary, North Cowichan: 1.9 km

Nearest francophone school (Conseil scolaire francophone)

Des Cascades, Duncan: 2.5 km

Independent schools within 10 km

5

Nearest licensed group child care

Khowhemun Elementary - Out Of School Care: 700 m

Licensed group child care within 1 km

2: by the ages their operators list, 1 for 30 months to 5 years and 1 school age (1 lists none); all take part in the fee reduction (CCFRI)

Licensed group child care within 2 km

12: by the ages their operators list, 1 under 36 months, 4 for 30 months to 5 years, 1 preschool and 3 school age (8 list none); 11 take part in the fee reduction (CCFRI)

Licensed family child care within about 2 km

13, in the providers' homes

Nearest grocery store

49th Parallel Grocery: 1 km

Grocery stores within 10 km

7

Nearest fire station

City of Duncan Fire Department: 1.4 km, on the Province's list

Nearest ambulance station

Ambulance station 152, Duncan: 2.8 km

Nearest transfer station or landfill

Salt Spring Recycling: 17 km

Nearest post office

Duncan Main: 1.2 km

Nearest gas station

Petro-Canada: 1 km

Nearest transit stop

Cliffs & Wilson: 210 m, route 7; 6 departures on a weekday, 5 on Saturday, 3 on Sunday (BC Transit's schedule, week of October 19, 2026)

Transit stops within 500 m

7

Nearest park or protected area

Cowichan River Park, a provincial park: 4.5 km from the lot line

Nearest recreation site or trail

Kinsol Trestle Trail, on Recreation Sites and Trails BC's list: 12 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.

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 11, 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.

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.

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.

Grocery stores, transfer stations, landfills, recycling depots, post offices, gas stations 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).

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

Duncan Kelvin Creek, 4.9 km away

Station elevation

103 m

Lot elevation (estimated, middle of the lot)

32 m

January mean temperature (1981-2010)

3.6 °C*

July mean temperature (1981-2010)

17.9 °C*

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

1,361 mm*

Yearly snowfall (1981-2010)

72 cm*

Days a year over 30 °C (1981-2010)

7.9 days, under half a day of them over 35 °C*

Heating degree days, below 18 °C (1981-2010)

2,957 a year*

Growing degree days, above 5 °C (1981-2010)

2,084 a year; 948 above 10 °C*

Period

1981-2010

Plant hardiness zone (regional)

8b

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

About 6 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 55 days longer than in the same models' 1971-2000

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

About 8 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 4 days a year at the Duncan College Street station, 1 km away (2018 to 2025); the most was 12 days in 2020, most in September

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 15 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 the frost-free period, days with snow on the ground or the lowest temperature recorded, 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 8 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 6 to 18 across the models), against about 2 in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 280 days (range 260 to 330), against about 225; and about 4% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 2% to 6%), against about 12%. 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 Duncan College Street station, 1 km away, fine particles passed the level of BC's 24-hour objective (25 µg/m³) on a median of 4 days a year over the 8 years with a full record, 2018 to 2025; the most was 12 days in 2020, most of them in September. These days fell both in the wildfire season and in winter (our reading: wildfire smoke in summer, wood smoke held in by still air in winter).

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.

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.

Place

North Cowichan

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

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

North Cowichan

Residential rate, 2026

6.08493 per $1,000

Municipal

3.06588 per $1,000

Regional district

1.20511 per $1,000

Regional hospital district

0.39444 per $1,000

School (set by the Province)

1.3812 per $1,000

Other

0.0383 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 North Cowichan RCMP (municipal)

Crime severity index, 2025

101 (BC 92)

Violent / non-violent index

144 / 85 (BC 98 / 91)

Crime severity index, 2015

85 (BC 93)

Break and enter, per 100,000 people, 2025

330 (BC 281)

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

87 (BC 138)

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

180 (BC 441)

Violent crime, per 100,000 people, 2025

2,427 (BC 1,531)

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

8,029 (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.