R1: Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Small-scale multi-unit housing: 1 to 6 homes on a lot counting secondary suites, as a house, duplex or multiplex. Up to 4 on a lot of 281 m² or more (lots of 280 m² or less: at most 3); 5 or 6 only in a Frequent Transit Network Area (within 400 m of a bus stop with frequent service as the Province's regulation defines it). Or rowhouses, each on its own lot of at most 280 m², with 1 to 3 homes on each lot counting suites (ss. 1.1.4, 1.1.5; Part 2). Which transit map a lot is on we don't check: ask the City

Main uses

Small-scale multi-unit housing (houses, duplexes, multiplexes), rowhouses, a group home, supportive housing, a child care facility (up to 25 children, on a corner lot, in a new building with no homes); boarders, home-based child care, home occupations, secondary suites, short-term rental, urban agriculture, accessory buildings (ss. 1.1.2, 1.1.3)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

Small-scale housing: 281 m², 10 m wide (interior or corner lot). Rowhouse lots: at most 280 m² (more only under a covenant capping them at 3 homes), 5 m wide (6.2 m for an end unit or a corner on a lane, 8 m for a corner on a street). Panhandle lots only for heritage lots or where the site leaves no choice; a pie-shaped lot may be narrower at the front if its average width over the first 30 m meets the minimum (s. 1.1.4)

Lot coverage

1 or 2 homes: 40% on a lot under 567 m², 30% on a lot over 567 m² (the table doesn't say which applies at exactly 567 m²); 3 or 4 homes: 40%; 5 or 6 homes: 45%; rowhouses: 55%. At least 40% of the lot left permeable (30% with 5 or 6 homes or rowhouses) (s. 1.1.5, Part 4-4.3)

Height limit

Buildings at the front: 10 m with a sloping roof, 9.5 m with a flat roof; 2.5 storeys with 1 or 2 homes, 3 storeys with 3 to 6 homes or rowhouses. Buildings at the rear: 7.5 m sloping, 7.0 m flat, 2 storeys. Accessory buildings 4.0 m, one storey. Storeys count a basement or cellar; height is measured to the middle of a sloping roof (ss. 1.1.5, 1.1.5.2, 1.1.7.1)

Setbacks

Front 4.0 m, flanking street 3.0 m (rowhouses 3.0 m on any street), lane 1.5 m, rear 3.0 m (accessory buildings 1.5 m), sides 1.2 m (none at a rowhouse party wall). Between buildings on the lot: 2.4 m, but 6.0 m between a front and a rear building (s. 1.1.5)

Unit mix: a lot with 1 to 3 homes needs at least one with 3 or more bedrooms, a lot with 4 to 6 homes at least two; at least one home's main entrance faces the street; each primary home gets its own outdoor space of at least 10 m², 2.0 m wide (s. 1.1.3).

The district sets no floor area ratio or homes per hectare; the size of a building comes from its storeys, setbacks, separations and the permeable surface required (our reading).

Homes more than 45 m from a street need sprinklers; every home needs a 1.0 m clear path to the street (or a lane where the street can't be reached) (s. 1.1.5.6).

Parking at the rear, from the lane, where the lot has one. Required spaces: 1.0 for the first home plus 0.5 for each other home; none for rowhouses, and none in a Transit-Oriented Area or Frequent Transit Network Area (s. 1.1.5.5, Part 7-1.3).

Smallest homes: a secondary suite 32.52 m², a studio 37 m², one bedroom 56 m², two bedrooms 90 m², three bedrooms 111 m² (Part 4-3.2.2).

No balconies in the required yards (Part 4-1.4.2). Accessory structures that aren't buildings at most 4.6 m high outside the front and side yards (Part 4-2.1.2).

Heritage lots on the Community Heritage Register may get panhandle lots, 60% coverage, a 2.0 m front yard, no 3-bedroom rule and no parking, with the City's approval and a covenant protecting the heritage (s. 1.1.6).

Contiguous rowhouse lots need a public walkway at least every 100 m, under a right of way to the City, and adjoining rowhouses must be built at the same time (ss. 1.1.3, 1.1.4.1).

A secondary suite: at most one in each primary home (in small-scale multi-unit housing, a rowhouse or a townhouse), wholly inside it, at least 32.52 m², never on a title of its own; no boarders, child care centre or home occupation with clients on site in a home that has one (a licensed home-based child care may run in the suite where it has no inside door to the main home) (Part 6-3.1, Part 4-3.2.2).

Boarding: at most 2 boarders or lodgers in a home, for 30 days or more at a time (Part 2).

Home occupations: no outside sign of the business, no manufacturing or welding, no outside storage, residents only (one employee for a home-based child care), at most one customer and one customer vehicle at a time (Part 6-3.4).

Short-term rental (at most 4 unrelated guests, or 6 related) only in the principal residence of an owner on title; never in a rental unit, a secondary suite, an accessory building or a home with boarders, child care or a home occupation with clients on site; in a home with a suite, only while the suite is rented to a long-term tenant for 30 days or more. Small-scale housing and rowhouses need one more parking space for it (Part 2, Part 6-3.3, Part 7-1.3).

A temporary use permit can't add a use to small-scale multi-unit housing, rowhouses, townhouses, apartments, suites, lock-off units or purpose-built rental housing (Part 6-1.3).

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