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I2 zoning in BC
I2 (also written I-2, I.2) means whatever the bylaw that zones the lot says: there is no provincial I2 zone. 14 bylaws we've summarised use it, from 13 local governments. It goes by 7 names: General Industrial (4 bylaws), Light Industrial (4 bylaws), Heavy Industrial (2 bylaws), Gravel Extraction and 3 more. What it allows is below, bylaw by bylaw.
I2 in each bylaw
| Local government | Homes allowed | Smallest lot for a subdivision | Lot coverage | Height limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Shuswap Regional District Light Industrial · Scotch Creek/Lee Creek Zoning Bylaw No. 825 | Upper-floor dwellings: 6 per hectare with community water and sewer, one otherwise | 0.5 ha with community sewer; 1 ha otherwise | 50% | 12.5 m |
| Regional District of East Kootenay Gravel Extraction · Electoral Area C South Zoning & Floodplain Management Bylaw No. 2913, 2019 | None: the zone lists no dwelling | 8 ha | 10% | 20 m |
| Regional District of East Kootenay Heavy Industrial · Columbia Valley Zoning Bylaw No. 3255, 2023 | None: the zone lists no dwelling | 0.8 ha | Not set | 12 m |
| Regional District of North Okanagan General Industrial · 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; 8 ha in the ALR (or as the Agricultural Land Commission approves) | 60% | 18 m |
| Thompson-Nicola Regional District Light Industrial · TNRD Zoning Bylaw No. 2400, 2012 | A caretaker's home | 1,000 m² | 60% | Not set |
| City of Abbotsford General Industrial Zone · City of Abbotsford Zoning Bylaw No. 2400-2014 | One accessory home of up to 90 m², inside the main building | 1,850 m² | 60% | 12.2 m (stacked shipping containers not counted) |
| District of Clearwater Light Industrial · District of Clearwater Zoning Bylaw No. 133, 2016 | One caretaker home | 1,000 m² on community water and sewer, 2,000 m² on community water only, 1 ha with neither; 20 m of frontage | No maximum | No maximum |
| Village of Clinton Heavy Industrial · Village of Clinton Zoning Bylaw No. 607, 2025 | None | 4,047 m² (1 acre) | 60% | 12 m |
| City of Delta Medium Impact Industrial · Delta Zoning Bylaw No. 7600, 2017 | One security guard's home, accessory to a use other than farming or a kennel (s. 16.20.3) | None set in the zone (s. 16.20) | None set in the zone (s. 16.20) | No limit, except for farm and kennel buildings, which follow the A1 zone (s. 16.20.5) |
| City of Kamloops General Industrial · City of Kamloops Zoning Bylaw No. 55, 2021 | An accessory home inside the main industrial building, at most 40% of its floor area and 150 m² | 2,000 m², 30 m wide | 60% | 16 m; structures 18 m |
| City of Kelowna General Industrial · City of Kelowna Zoning Bylaw No. 12375 | A security or operator home, as a secondary use | 4,000 m², 40 m wide, 35 m deep (s. 14.10) | 60% for buildings; 90% for buildings, structures and hard surfaces (s. 14.12) | 16 m; 1.5 FAR; 2.4 FAR in the Mixed Employment District and on Bay Avenue, Crowley Avenue, Ethel Street, Trench Place and Weddell Place (s. 14.14) |
| Municipality of North Cowichan Industrial Heavy · Zoning Bylaw 1997, No. 2950 | No house: the zone lists every Industrial Light (I1) use, whose only home is an accessory dwelling unit attached to the lot's main use (ss. 77(1), 76(1); definition in s. 12). The zone sets no count or size for it: ask the Municipality | 16,000 m² (about 4 acres), with 90 m of frontage (s. 77(2), (3)) | 50% (s. 77(4)) | None set in the zone |
| City of Nanaimo Light Industrial · City of Nanaimo Zoning Bylaw No. 4500 | No house: one home per lot as an accessory use to the industrial use (s. 13.2.2) | 1,200 m², 15 m wide, 30 m deep (s. 13.3) | 40%; 15% more where the development meets one of Schedule D's amenity categories (s. 13.6.1) | 12 m (s. 13.6.1) |
| City of Vancouver Industrial · Zoning and Development By-law No. 3575 | No homes, except, outside the False Creek Flats' sub-areas A and B, a caretaker's home where it is essential to the business, and a home with an artist studio in floor space that stood on February 26, 2013 (additions up to 10%); both conditional (ss. 2.1, 2.2.3, 2.2.4) | None set in the district (our reading) | None set. Floor space ratio 3.00 for industry, storage, wholesale and similar uses, 1.00 for all other uses together: retail at most 1,000 m², offices the greater of 235 m² or a third of the floor area, a restaurant 300 m². In sub-area B, up to 4.00 with approval (ss. 3.1.1.1, 3.2.1.1, 3.2.1.2) | 18.3 m; up to 30.5 m with the Director of Planning's or Development Permit Board's approval, weighing daylight and privacy in nearby residential districts (ss. 3.1.2.1, 3.1.2.5) |
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 I2 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.