Zone

RML (Low Rise Apartment Zone)

Zoning bylaw

City of Abbotsford Zoning Bylaw No. 2400-2014

Homes allowed

Apartments and congregate housing, at a floor space ratio of up to 1.4 (1.7 with the density bonus)

Main uses

Apartments, congregate housing; Level 1 home occupation, boarders

Lot coverage

40% (45% with the density bonus)

Height limit

21.3 m or six storeys, whichever is less; accessory buildings 4.5 m

Setbacks

Street lot lines at least 3.0 m and at most 6.0 m (accessory buildings 3.0 m, never between the building and the street); interior lot lines 6.0 m for storeys 1 to 4 and 10.0 m above (accessory buildings 3.0 m)

Development permit areas

Not published as open data by the City of Abbotsford: ask it which development permit areas cover this lot

Fewest homes provincial law requires

Doesn't set a floor here as far as we can tell: the RML zone (Low Rise Apartment Zone) isn't limited to houses and duplexes (inferred from its name), and the provincial floor applies only in zones that are.

Short-term rentals (provincial rule)

The Province's principal residence requirement applies in Abbotsford (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.

Density: a floor space ratio of 1.4; with a density bonus contribution under s. 140, 0.30 more, to 1.70, and lot coverage up to 45% (ss. 450.3.1, 450.3.2).

Common outdoor amenity space of at least 3.0 m² per home, outside the required setbacks, open to all residents, with no side shorter than 6.0 m and no slope over 5% (s. 450.5.1).

Apartments and congregate housing may share a building only on separate storeys, each with its own entrances, exits and lobbies (s. 450.5.2).

Density bonus (s. 140.6): on a lot inside the Density Bonus Eligibility Area (Figure 7), the zone's bonus density is allowed if at least 0.3% of the bonus floor area, or one home, whichever is greater, is built as below-market rental (homes of at least 86 m² and three bedrooms, handed to a government agency or non-profit for 60 years, rented below the CMHC median rent to households below Abbotsford's median income), or $15.40 per m² of bonus floor area is paid to the City's affordable housing fund before the building permit, or the bonus floor area is used for a non-residential use the zone allows.

Boarders (s. 140.3.2): in a house or duplex, up to four in the principal home, two per bedroom, never together with a short-term rental; in an apartment, townhouse or rowhouse, one boarder, not in a building with supported housing or congregate care. Parking: one space per bedroom in a house or duplex (s. 150.3).

Home occupation, Level 1 (s. 140.3.5(a)): inside the home, by its residents only; no nuisance (noise, smell, traffic and the like), no outside storage, and no outward change to the home's residential look; no customer visits and no sign. No extra parking (s. 150.3).

Parking (s. 150.3): apartments 1 space per studio, 1.25 per one-bedroom and 1.5 per larger home, plus 0.2 per home for visitors (a den over 6.5 m² counts as a bedroom, s. 150.2.4); congregate housing 1 per home or 0.5 per sleeping unit plus 0.2 for visitors.

Short-term rental (paid nightly accommodation where no guest stays more than 30 days in any 12 months, s. 120) isn't a listed use in this zone, and a use a zone doesn't list isn't allowed (s. 130.1).

Accessory buildings go up only with or after the main building or use; one attached to the main building counts as part of it and keeps its setbacks (s. 140.4.1).

Chimneys, sills and bay windows may reach 0.6 m into a setback; steps, eaves, canopies, cantilevered balconies and open porches 1.2 m into front, rear and side-street setbacks and 0.6 m into interior side setbacks and between buildings; below-grade window wells, stairs and ramps anywhere (s. 140.4.2).

Fences and walls up to 1.2 m between the house and the front lot line and beside it along a flanking street, and up to 1.8 m behind and beside it elsewhere (Figure 3); measured from existing grade, a fence within 1.0 m of a retaining wall counting the wall's height; no barbed, razor or electric wire (s. 140.5.2).

No commercial vehicle or trailer over 5,500 kg, and no boat over 8.6 m, parked or stored outside a building (s. 140.5.4).

No vehicle, recreational vehicle or trailer may be parked or stored on a lawn or landscaped area (s. 140.5.4(d)).

Garbage, compost and recycling bins for apartments, commercial and industrial uses are screened to 2.0 m, kept out of the front setback and away from homes; a townhouse lot of 5 or more homes has a central bin area or pick-up for each home (s. 140.4.5).

Landscaping (s. 140.7): the front setback is a continuous landscaped strip at least 3.0 m wide, and parking, loading and outdoor storage are screened from a street by 3.0 m of landscaping and from a neighbouring lot by 1.5 m; the rest of the lot not built on or paved is landscaped.

Home child care for up to 25 children is allowed in a zone permitting apartments or townhouses, one per lot, outside the homes themselves (s. 140.2.8(b)).

Supported housing (s. 140.2.7), always under a housing agreement with the City: in an apartment or dormitory in any zone, on the RMM zone's terms, except on a lot whose zone allows farming or in the ALR; and in a single detached house in any residential zone outside the farm zones and the ALR, for up to ten residents, at least 200 m from other supported housing or a school (homes licensed before April 1, 2008 aside), never on a lot with a secondary suite, garden suite, coach house, residential care, boarding house, home child care or home occupation, and with no outward sign of a non-residential use.

Land given up for road widening, a corner cut or a walkway still counts in the lot area for density and floor space ratio (s. 140.4.10).

A density figure ending in a half home or more rounds up; less is dropped (s. 130.2.2).

For a strata development, lot width, coverage, density and floor space ratio are measured on the whole strata plan, not each strata lot (s. 130.2.4).

New residential buildings give each home with required parking an energized outlet for Level 2 charging (s. 150.6).

Inside a transit-oriented area (s. 150.5.6, Figure 2), homes need no minimum parking, though accessible spaces are still required (s. 150.7.5); other uses keep their rates.

Parking can be cut by up to 20% beside or near the official community plan's Primary Transit Corridor (10% within 200 m, 10% more within 400 m for $23,000 a space), and rental-only apartments by 10% inside the Urban Development Boundary, 5% more on the corridor or downtown (ss. 150.5.1, 150.5.3, 150.5.4).

A parking area of five or more spaces, driveways included, is paved, marked and lit without glare onto neighbours (s. 150.12).

No building within 15.0 m of the natural boundary of a lake, slough, swamp, pond or watercourse (tributaries included); 30.0 m from Nathan Creek, Poignant Creek, Clayburn Creek east of Old Clayburn Road and the Sumas River in its floodplain; 60.0 m from the Fraser River in its floodplain; 15.0 m from the inside toe of a dyke or its right-of-way, whichever is more; 7.5 m from a ditch. Fill used to raise a building stays out of these setbacks (ss. 140.8.7, 140.8.8).

Floodproofing (s. 140.8, Schedule E): in the Sumas Lake Bottom, Sumas Prairie, Huntingdon, Matsqui Prairie, Glen Valley and Sumas River areas (A to G), the Fishtrap Creek 100-year floodplain (H) and the watercourse setback areas, floors of living space sit at or above the area's level in Table 1 (for example 11.1 m GSC in areas A, B and D, 9.8 m in Matsqui Prairie, 8.5 m in Glen Valley), or at a lower "reduced" level in areas A, B, E and F where the owner signs a covenant with the City and the Province; farm buildings, renovations and small additions can be exempted under a covenant (s. 140.8.6). The rule printed as floors "not less than 1.5 m above the natural boundary" of a watercourse (s. 140.8.3(c)) reads as a prohibition of floors that high, so how high a floor near a watercourse must sit is unclear; ask the City of Abbotsford.

Nothing may be built on the river side of a dyke or on an island in the Fraser River (s. 140.8.2).

At street corners, a sight triangle (Figure 2) is kept clear of buildings, structures and plants between 1.0 m and 3.0 m above the street (s. 140.4.9).

No vehicle, recreational vehicles included, may be lived in, except that a visitor's RV may be used for up to 72 hours in a row in any 30 days (s. 140.4.11).

Wrecked vehicles only where the zone allows them or a business on the lot needs them, and then inside a building or behind a fence or wall that hides them (s. 140.5.3).

Growing, processing, storing or selling cannabis is not allowed in any zone unless the bylaw provides for it, subject to the provincial ALR rules (s. 140.2.5); cannabis production is a farm use only in the A1 to A6 zones (s. 120).

Every zone also allows public service works and utilities, parks, and seasonal Christmas tree sales (s. 140.1); an emergency shelter on a lot that doesn't border one with homes, under a housing agreement (s. 140.2.3); a temporary accessory emergency shelter during a declared emergency or an extreme weather alert, except on lots whose zone allows farming or in the ALR (ss. 140.2.1, 140.2.2); and soil extraction inside the official community plan's Soil Removal Eligibility Area, under the soil bylaw (s. 140.2.4).

Our summary of Section 450 of City of Abbotsford Zoning Bylaw No. 2400-2014, consolidated to 2026-09-01. Site-specific exceptions listed in the bylaw by legal description can add or change uses for one property.

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

The City of Abbotsford's development permit area map isn't open data (its open data has steep slope and watercourse layers, but no development permit area map), so we can't name the areas over this lot. Ask it before you plan to build, clear or subdivide.

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

6,560 m² (92%)

In or within 30 m of mapped water

0%

Steeper than 30%, outside that strip

8%

15 to 30% slope

19%

On designated floodplain (counted as clear)

0%

Median slope

10%

Main slope direction

No main direction: the slopes face several ways; measured by us on NRCan's lidar elevation model (Flood Hazard Mapping South West survey, 2023; 2 m grid)

Which way it faces

46% south (SE to SW), 8% north (NW to NE), 32% flat; the rest east or west

Estimated by us on Natural Resources Canada's lidar elevation model, from the Flood Hazard Mapping South West survey (2023): 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

18° above level; the hills due south rise to 2°, 0.5 km away

Highest hills in the winter sun's path

4° above level to the south, 14.5 km away

Measured at

The middle of the lot, ground at about 43 m, from head height

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

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

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

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

Capability class (1 best, 7 none)

Class 4 (organic soil): about 100% of the lot

What limits it

too wet (high water table), peat that drains poorly

Improved rating

Class 3 (organic soil) on most of the mapped part, assuming the improvements the map judged practical

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.

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.

Fires on the parcel

0

Fires within 2 km

1

Within 2 km in the last 30 years

0

Most recent nearby

1924 (57 ha, caused by people)

Largest nearby

1924 (57 ha, caused by people)

Causes on record within 2 km

1 caused by people

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.

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

0.41 g

Peak ground acceleration, 10% in 50 years

0.21 g

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

0.94 g

The same value in city centres

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

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, earthquake-triggered landslides and tsunami 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

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

Kinds within 5 km

earth slide 1

With a date

1 of 1; the latest 15 Nov 2021 (earth slide, 4.9 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)

Fraser East

Homes tested here

100

At or above 200 Bq/m³ (the guideline)

3 (3%)

At or above 600 Bq/m³

None

Across BC

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

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

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

Federal sites within 2 km

0

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

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

Confirm with the local government and a qualified environmental professional.

Roads along the parcel

Fern Street (local road, paved); an unnamed driveway, marked private

Nearest public road

Along the parcel

Who maintains the road

No road within 100 m of the lot is on the Ministry of Transportation's inventory, so the roads along it are the City of Abbotsford's streets (or private), and the City of Abbotsford clears its own streets in winter.

Snow clearing priority

None of the streets along the lot is on the City of Abbotsford's first or second priority routes (per the City of Abbotsford's Roads - Snow Clearing map, read 2026-10-05); the City's snow page says roads not marked on its map are third priority, so the street along the lot is likely third priority (our reading).

ParcelMap BC records this lot as part of a strata plan (BCS4344). Roads inside a strata are usually common property that the owners maintain through strata fees, and the map shows them like any other road. The strata plan, its bylaws and the strata's records say who owns and maintains each road and how the strata reaches a public road.

Worked out by us from OpenStreetMap road lines: a road whose centreline is within 25 m of the lot line is counted as running along it. The map isn't proof of legal access: a road can be private, unbuilt or not maintained in winter, and reaching a lot across someone else's land needs a registered easement. The title search and the local government (or the Ministry of Transportation outside towns) confirm both.

The City of Abbotsford's Snow & Ice page sets three priorities: first, about 350 km of high-volume and strategic arterial and collector roads, transit routes, school zones and the main roads up hillsides, kept up until conditions are safe; then second, about 170 km of the other arterial, hillside and collector routes; then third, the remaining roads, mostly local streets. The priority is the City's plan for an ordinary snowfall: in a big storm, or with crews short, a street can wait longer.

At-risk species or ecosystems on the parcel

None recorded

Within 500 m

Oregon Forestsnail (Red-listed)

Wide-ranging species mapped over it

None

Secured records in the wider area

Yes (location withheld by the CDC)

Wildlife Habitat Area over the parcel

No

Ungulate winter range over the parcel

No

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.

The CDC hides the exact location of some sensitive species inside large blocks; it shares details with landowners and their consultants on request (cdcdata@gov.bc.ca).

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

Cutblocks applied for (1 km)

0

Approved, not yet logged (1 km)

0

Logged in the last 5 years (1 km)

0

Crown land applications (1 km)

None

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

None

Open applications on this lot (City of Abbotsford)

None

Open applications within 200 m

PRJ23-107: application, active, about 125 m away; PRJ22-048: application, active, about 190 m away

Nearest power line (200 m)

None mapped within 200 m

Major projects in assessment (10 km)

None

Major projects approved (10 km)

Bevan Avenue Wells Groundwater Supply Development (groundwater extraction; about 2.3 km away; certificate issued May 11, 2011, operating)

Reviewed, no assessment needed (10 km)

29694 Marshall Road Extension (sand and gravel pit; about 8.4 km away; reviewed Apr 10, 2008: no assessment needed); Fraser River Forcemain Crossing (shoreline modification; about 9.8 km away; reviewed Jun 4, 2019: no assessment needed, not yet built)

Closed or not reviewable (10 km)

None

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

Applications are the City of Abbotsford's own open records, read when this report was built: open files only, within 200 m of the lot line as we measure it on its map. The City of Abbotsford's Development Data page has the details and how to comment. An application on the lot can bind or limit what you build; confirm its status with the City of Abbotsford before you buy.

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

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

Nearest railway (2 km)

A branch railway line (CPKC Mission Subdivision, Canadian Pacific Kansas City), about 740 m from the lot line

Nearest highway or major road (2 km)

Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1), a freeway, about 300 m 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

In the City of Abbotsford's water service area, at the lot's middle (per the City of Abbotsford's Water Boundary map, read 2026-10-05)

Wells within 2 km

143

Median depth

12 m

Median tested yield

274 L/min (24 wells tested)

Median water level below ground

8 m

Aquifer 15 under the lot

Abbotsford Shallow: unconfined sand and gravel (late glacial outwash); productivity high, vulnerability high, demand high; 834 wells linked, median depth 13.7 m

Aquifer 28 under the lot

Northwest of Clearbrook: confined sand and gravel (glacio-marine); productivity moderate, vulnerability low, demand high; 426 wells linked, median depth 40.5 m

Aquifer 969 under the lot

Sumas mountain: fractured sedimentary rock; productivity moderate, vulnerability moderate, demand low; 27 wells linked, median depth 41.1 m

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 City's water boundary marks land inside and outside its water service.

City sewer main

About 5 m from the lot line, on Fern St (per the City of Abbotsford's Sanitary Mains map, read 2026-10-05)

Recorded water-supply wells within 30 m

1, nearest about 30 m outside it; well tag 103146

Mapped water within 30 m

None mapped

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

4220 m² (59%)

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

5260 m² (74%)

Within the setbacks, under 45% slope (trenches)

5740 m² (81%)

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.

On a community sewer, a septic field isn't usually needed: the screening above is kept in case one ever is. The local government may also require a lot near its sewer to connect.

A main within 30 m of the lot line is our reading of the city's pipe map: a lot beside one is usually connected or can connect, but whether it is, and at what cost, is the city's to confirm.

Nearest hospital

Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre: 2 km

Next nearest hospital

Mission Memorial Hospital: 11 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

Alexander Elementary, Abbotsford: 600 m

Nearest public secondary school

Abbotsford Senior Secondary School: 1.2 km

Independent schools within 10 km

7

Nearest grocery store

No Frills: 800 m

Grocery stores within 10 km

24

Nearest fire station

Abbotsford Fire Department Hall 6 Abbotsford: 1 km, on the Province's list

Nearest ambulance station

Ambulance station 202, Abbotsford: 700 m

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Confirm services with the local government.

Best speed recorded within about 1 km

50/10 Mbps or faster

Over a wired line (cable, fibre or DSL)

50/10 Mbps or faster

Over fixed wireless

50/10 Mbps or faster

LTE mobile within about 1 km

recorded

Nearest place with 50/10 Mbps or faster

within about 1 km (about 100 m)

Data

ISED National Broadband Data, May 2026

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

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

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

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

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

Nearest climate station

Abbotsford Airport, 5.5 km away

Station elevation

59 m

Lot elevation (estimated, middle of the lot)

44 m

January mean temperature (1991-2020)

3.7 °C

July mean temperature (1991-2020)

18.5 °C

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

1,505 mm*

Yearly snowfall (1991-2020)

56 cm*

Frost-free period (1991-2020)

218 days a year*

Average last spring frost (1991-2020)

April 3*

Average first fall frost (1991-2020)

November 7*

Days with snow on the ground, 1 cm or more (1991-2020)

11 days a year, 6 days of them in January*

Lowest temperature recorded, 1991-2020

−16.4 °C (1993)

Period

1991-2020

Plant hardiness zone (regional)

8b

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 or 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.

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

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

Abbotsford

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

Abbotsford

Residential rate, 2026

4.52071 per $1,000

Municipal

2.95162 per $1,000

Regional district

0.08836 per $1,000

Regional hospital district

0.11583 per $1,000

School (set by the Province)

1.3266 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

Abbotsford's municipal police

Crime severity index, 2025

95 (BC 92)

Violent / non-violent index

129 / 82 (BC 98 / 91)

Crime severity index, 2015

87 (BC 93)

Break and enter, per 100,000 people, 2025

263 (BC 281)

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

169 (BC 138)

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

462 (BC 441)

Violent crime, per 100,000 people, 2025

1,561 (BC 1,531)

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

5,788 (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.