E1: Employment

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Rental apartments only on lots within 200 m of a SkyTrain station, above a principal use and never on the ground floor, with a share of non-market rental homes (10% in the Northwest and Southwest quadrants of the city, 5% in the Northeast and Southeast, rented below the market homes). Live-work units: the home part at most 112 m² a unit, above the work use, never on the ground floor (s. 3.1.3, Part 5 Table 5-1.3)

Main uses

Light industry, research and development, warehouses, packaging and distribution, wholesale, contractors, storage and works yards, towing and impound lots, vehicle, boat and trailer dealers, a service station or industrial fueling station, transportation facilities and utilities, a recycling centre, a commercial kitchen, a production or rehearsal studio, an artist studio, offices, a trade school, health care, a child care facility, an emergency shelter, animal care (overnight boarding at least 25 m from homes), assembly and entertainment (no nightclubs), recreation and fitness (an indoor shooting range at least 60 m from a residential lot), a cannabis processing facility (indoors, with odour filtering), nurseries and greenhouses (enclosed, no livestock bar insects), a residential sales centre; secondary shops, restaurants, personal and business services, educational services, rental apartments, live-work units, self-storage (above the ground storey, not within 400 m of a SkyTrain station), energy generation, an active mobility hub and mobile vendors; a showroom of at most half of each unit (ss. 3.1.2, 3.1.3)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

None set in the district; subdivision goes to the City's Approving Officer (our reading)

Lot coverage

None set in the district; at least 10% of the lot left permeable, shown on a landscape architect's plan (Part 4-4.3)

Height limit

8 storeys; more where a residential overlay district is zoned on the lot (s. 3.1.4)

Setbacks

Front 6.0 m, flanking street 4.5 m; across a street from an A or R district lot: front 9.0 m, flanking 6.0 m. Lane 3.0 m, sides 3.0 m, rear 3.0 m; 6.0 m from any line beside an A or R district lot or across a lane from one. One side may be 0.0 m where it isn't beside an A or R district lot and the other side is at least 6.0 m (ss. 3.1.4.1, 3.1.4.3)

The district is for light industry, commerce and private recreation that sit well beside homes, with some rental housing near SkyTrain (s. 3.1.1).

Making, warehousing or storing hazardous waste or dangerous goods needs a permit from the Province's Waste Management Branch; no outdoor storage in a required street yard; screening at least 1.8 m high along any lot line where work or storage is done outdoors (s. 3.1.3).

A lot can be zoned with an overlay district on top of this one (Part 6-2.0): the overlay's uses are added, height follows the R district where there is one (else the taller district), and setbacks follow the district each use belongs to; with an R overlay, homes must be purpose-built rental and at least 80% of the ground floor non-residential; with a C1 overlay, at least 60% of the ground floor on a street commercial and an E1 principal use on the lot. The City's open zoning layer gives only the base code, so whether a lot has an overlay is unclear from it: ask the City (our reading).

Short-term rental only in a live-work unit that is the principal residence of an owner on title, never in a rental unit (Part 6-3.3).

Along stretches of Kingsway, the Lougheed Highway, Hastings Street and Boundary Road, buildings must stand back a set distance from the road's centre line, 12.9 m to 30.2 m depending on the stretch (Part 4-1.3.3).

Uses the district doesn't list aren't allowed (Part 1, s. 4.1), besides transit, public utilities, civic facilities and public parks, allowed everywhere (Part 6-1.4).

Parts 4 (general regulations), 5 (rental housing and bonus incentives), 6 (use-specific regulations) and 7 (parking) of the bylaw also apply.

Site-specific exceptions listed in the bylaw by legal description can add or change uses for one property, and development permit areas, the ALR and building rules apply on top. Confirm with the City of Burnaby's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: Part 3, Section 3.1 of Burnaby Zoning Bylaw 2026, No. 14815 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-05); zone map: Open Government Licence – Burnaby.