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C-3 zoning in BC
C-3 (also written C3, C.3) means whatever the bylaw that zones the lot says: there is no provincial C-3 zone. 19 bylaws we've summarised use it, from 14 local governments. It goes by 12 names: Service Commercial (3 bylaws), General Commercial (2 bylaws), Highway Commercial (2 bylaws), Neighbourhood Commercial (2 bylaws) and 8 more. What it allows is below, bylaw by bylaw.
C-3 in each bylaw
| Local government | Homes allowed | Smallest lot for a subdivision | Lot coverage | Height limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Shuswap Regional District Neighbourhood Commercial · South Shuswap Zoning Bylaw No. 701 | One dwelling | 2,000 m² with community water and sewer; 1 ha otherwise | 50% with community water and sewer, 40% otherwise | Main buildings 11.5 m, accessory buildings 10 m |
| Columbia Shuswap Regional District Commercial-3 · Scotch Creek/Lee Creek Zoning Bylaw No. 825 | Houses and resort residential spaces: 6 per hectare with community sewer, 2 per hectare otherwise; an attached secondary dwelling unit | 20 ha (20 m wide) | 30% | Main buildings 11.5 m, accessory buildings 10 m |
| Regional District of East Kootenay Recreation Commercial · Jaffray, Tie Lake, Rosen Lake Land Use and Floodplain Management Bylaw No. 1414, 1999 | One dwelling, accessory to a use on the lot (the designation's table; set back as the main building, s. 5.09(5)) | 0.4 ha | 70% | 12 m |
| Regional District of East Kootenay General Commercial · Electoral Area E Zoning and Floodplain Management Bylaw No. 2502, 2014 | One dwelling, accessory to a business on the lot: a manufactured home on a non-permanent foundation, or a self-contained unit built into the main building above the first storey or behind the main use, with its own outside door (the zone; s. 1.18(3)) | 0.4 ha | 50% | 10 m |
| Regional District of East Kootenay Recreation Commercial · Steeples Zoning & Floodplain Management Bylaw No. 2615, 2015 | One dwelling, accessory to a business on the lot: a manufactured home up to 5 m tall on a non-permanent foundation, or a self-contained unit built into the main building above the first storey or behind the main use, with its own outside door (s. 1.11(3)) (the zone; s. 1.18(4)) | 0.4 ha | 70% | 12 m |
| Regional District of East Kootenay Service Commercial · Electoral Area C South Zoning & Floodplain Management Bylaw No. 2913, 2019 | One dwelling, accessory to a business on the lot: a manufactured home on a non-permanent foundation, or a self-contained unit built into the main building above the first storey or behind the business, with its own outside door (s. 1.18(4)) | 4,000 m² | 50% (75% for greenhouses with closed waste and storm water systems) | 12 m |
| Regional District of East Kootenay Regional Commercial · Columbia Valley Zoning Bylaw No. 3255, 2023 | None: the zone lists no dwelling | 1,670 m² on on-site water and sewage disposal, 1,390 m² with community water or sewer, 555 m² with both; gas stations 1,000 m² (s. 2.2) | Not set | Main building 12 m or 3 storeys, accessory buildings 5 m or 1 storey (whichever is less in each case) |
| Regional District of Nanaimo Commercial 3 · Electoral Area F Zoning and Subdivision Bylaw No. 1285, 2002 | One home per hectare of lot (s. 4.4.3), alongside the commercial uses; the zone doesn't list a secondary suite (s. 2.18) | 1 ha, with 20 m of frontage on a road (s. 4.4.3); up to half the lots in a subdivision may be 80% of that if the average holds (s. 6.7) | 30% of the first hectare of the lot, 5% of the rest (s. 4.4.3) | 10 m (s. 4.4.3) |
| Regional District of North Okanagan Neighbourhood Commercial · Regional District of North Okanagan Zoning Bylaw No. 3000, 2023 | One home for the owner, operator or an employee | 560 m² with community water and community sewer (15 m frontage); 1 ha without them | 50% | 8 m |
| Thompson-Nicola Regional District Highway Commercial · TNRD Zoning Bylaw No. 2400, 2012 | A caretaker's home | 1,000 m² with community water; 2,000 m² without | 30% | Not set |
| City of Abbotsford Community Commercial Zone · City of Abbotsford Zoning Bylaw No. 2400-2014 | Apartments, only alongside another principal use, within the zone's floor space ratio of 1.3 | 4,047 m² | 50% | 12.2 m or three storeys, whichever is less; tourist accommodation 15 m or four storeys, or 21.3 m or six storeys where the official community plan designates Gateway Commercial |
| City of Fort St. John General Commercial · City of Fort St. John Zoning Bylaw No. 2470, 2019 | Apartments only above the shops or offices of a mixed-use building (commercial on the ground floor), keeping the RM-4 zone's requirements for apartments, which allow at most 155 homes per hectare (ss. 20.2, 20.4.3, 17.3; the bylaw's definition of mixed-use, s. 3); or one caretaker suite with a business on the lot (s. 4.19). Which of RM-4's lot size, setback and floor area rules also bind the homes here is unclear: ask the City | 555 m², 15.0 m wide (s. 20.3) | 40% (s. 20.3) | 21.0 m (s. 20.3) |
| City of Kamloops Highway Commercial · City of Kamloops Zoning Bylaw No. 55, 2021 | None: the zone lists no dwellingExceptions (1)
| 1,115 m², 30 m wide | 33% | 2 storeys; hotels and motels 4 storeys; rooftop structures 4.5 m above the main roof, 6 m on a lot with no building |
| Township of Langley Service Commercial · Township of Langley Zoning Bylaw 1987 No. 2500 | No house: one home or mobile home per lot for the owner, manager or caretaker and their family, accessory to the commercial use (ss. 603.1, 603.3) | 1,858 m² (s. 110.1) | 40% (s. 603.4) | 12 m (s. 603.6) |
| Village of Lytton Service Commercial · Village of Lytton Zoning Bylaw No. 484, 1998 | Homes with a business; one on the ground floor, for the owner or manager | 1,000 m² on a community sewer, 2,000 m² without; 30 m wide | 50%; outdoor storage up to 30% of the lot | Buildings 10 m, fences 4.5 m |
| City of Maple Ridge Town Centre Commercial · City of Maple Ridge Zoning Bylaw No. 7600-2019 | Apartments, with no set number of homes: residential floor space ratio 1.0, up to 4.0 with the zone's bonuses (below), held above every storey used for business and never sharing a storey with it, with all their parking concealed; on lots Schedule E marks for ground-floor commercial, above the first storey. Or one or two homes as an accessory use with a business, also above the first storey (ss. 703.2, 703.3, 703.5, 703.11) | 1,672 m², 36.0 m wide, 27.0 m deep (s. 703.4) | 90%, all buildings together; 100% where all the parking the Off-Street Parking and Loading Bylaw requires is provided (s. 703.6). Surface parking at most 95% of the lot (s. 703.10) | At least 11.0 m; the zone sets no maximum outside the Port Haney and Fraser River Waterfront Area (our reading), where buildings are 11.0 m to 15.0 m and at most 4 storeys (Schedule C; s. 703.8). Accessory buildings 4.5 m. In a Transit-Oriented Area (Schedule H), 12 storeys within 200 m and 8 storeys from 201 to 400 m (s. 402.30) |
| City of Merritt Regional Commercial · City of Merritt Zoning Bylaw No. 2284, 2020 | Apartments, townhouses, or one or two homes in a main building, alongside the commercial use; a security or operator suite | 750 m², 25 m wide, 30 m deep | 70% | 22 m or 5 storeys |
| Municipality of North Cowichan Commercial Service · Zoning Bylaw 1997, No. 2950 | A house, on the R3 zone's rules; and every C2 home: an accessory dwelling unit attached to the lot's main use, homes above a ground floor kept for shops or other uses in a mixed-use building of two or more homes, bed and breakfast rooms (ss. 70(1), 69(1); definitions in s. 12). The zone sets no count of homes for a mixed-use building, so how many fit is unclear: ask the Municipality | 560 m², 15 m of frontage (s. 70(2), (3)) | 50% (s. 70(4)) | Main buildings 12.0 m; accessory buildings 5.0 m (s. 70(6)) |
| City of Penticton Mixed Use Commercial · City of Penticton Zoning Bylaw No. 2024-22 | Homes in the same building as a commercial use, up to 2.0 FAR on the lot; congregate housing; live-work units | 1,000 m², 18 m wide | 50% | 18 m |
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 C-3 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.