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A3 zoning in BC
A3 (also written A-3) means whatever the bylaw that zones the lot says: there is no provincial A3 zone. 3 bylaws we've summarised use it, from 3 local governments. It goes by 3 names: Agricultural and Resource, Agricultural and Resource Processing, Rural Restricted. What it allows is below, bylaw by bylaw.
A3 in each bylaw
| Local government | Homes allowed | Smallest lot for a subdivision | Lot coverage | Height limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Abbotsford Agricultural and Resource Processing · City of Abbotsford Zoning Bylaw No. 2400-2014 | One house (a permanent building or a manufactured home) with one secondary suite of up to 100 m²; on a lot of 0.4 ha or more, one accessory farm dwelling unit (up to 90 m², or 186 m² on a lot over 40 ha); on farm-classed ALR land with Agricultural Land Commission approval, one full-time farm worker residence (up to 300 m²) and temporary farm worker housing (up to 60 workers per farm operation) | 8.0 ha (no minimum width or depth); the minimum doesn't apply to a road dedication, to ALR consolidations, boundary adjustments, homesite severances and subdivisions adding no lot that the Agricultural Land Commission approves, or to splitting off, along the zone line, a part the official community plan designates and the bylaw zones industrial, or a part outside the ALR zoned to exclude farming (s. 210.5.1) (as A1, s. 230.5.1) | 35%; greenhouses may add 25% (to 60% in all), or 40% (to 75%) where the whole greenhouse operation recirculates its irrigation water (as A1, s. 230.3.2) | House three storeys; farm buildings 15.0 m (grain bins 46.0 m, silos 34.0 m, shipping containers 6.0 m); full-time farm worker residence three storeys; temporary farm worker housing three storeys in a permanent building, two in a prefabricated one; accessory farm dwelling unit 7.5 m or two storeys, whichever is less, in its own building (15.0 m inside a farm building); other non-farm accessory buildings 7.5 m (as A1, s. 230.3.2) |
| City of Coquitlam Agricultural and Resource · City of Coquitlam Zoning Bylaw No. 3000, 1996 | One house (single-detached dwelling); on a lot of 8.1 ha or more, also one home for a caretaker or other employee of a business on the lot, and up to four boarders in the house (s. 801(2), (3)(a), (3)(c), (3)(e), (7)). The zone lists no accessory dwelling unit | 8.1 ha; none for a public service (s. 801(4))Exceptions (1)
Listed in s. 801(4)(b) of the bylaw. | 30% for all buildings together; within it, farm and resource buildings 20% each, the house, the caretaker's home and accessory residential buildings 10% each (s. 801(6)); no floor area ratio (s. 801(5)) | House, caretaker's home, accessory residential and produce sales buildings 11 m; the zone sets none for farm, resource or industrial buildings (s. 801(10)) |
| Municipality of North Cowichan Rural Restricted · Zoning Bylaw 1997, No. 2950 | 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. 53(4))Exceptions (1)
Listed in s. 53(4)(f)-(i) of the bylaw. | 8,000 m², with 60 m of frontage (s. 53(2), (3)) | 30% | 9 m for buildings with homes; farm buildings under the farm building code |
Listed by local government, not ranked. "Not set" means the zone itself sets no figure; general rules elsewhere in its bylaw may still apply. Each zone's page has its uses, setbacks and the bylaw's sections.
Two lots both zoned A3 under different bylaws can allow quite different things, and provincial law sets a floor of homes on most house zones in towns (how many homes can I build?). Site-specific exceptions, development permit areas and the ALR apply on top. Find the lot's own zone with the search above, then confirm with the local government before you buy or build.
Sources: each zone's bylaw, linked from its page, summarised in our words. Other councils' zones aren't here: the zoning we cover.