PlaceDossier / Zoning / Zone codes
I-3 zoning in BC
I-3 (also written I3, I.3) means whatever the bylaw that zones the lot says: there is no provincial I-3 zone. 9 bylaws we've summarised use it, from 9 local governments. It goes by 6 names: Heavy Industrial (3 bylaws), General Industrial (2 bylaws), Agricultural Industrial, High Impact Industrial and 2 more. What it allows is below, bylaw by bylaw.
I-3 in each bylaw
| Local government | Homes allowed | Smallest lot for a subdivision | Lot coverage | Height limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional District of North Okanagan Agricultural Industrial · Regional District of North Okanagan Zoning Bylaw No. 3000, 2023 | One home or manufactured home for the owner, operator or an employee | 8 ha; frontage 10% of the lot's perimeter | 30% | Farm buildings and alcohol production 20 m; cannabis production 10 m; other buildings 12 m |
| Thompson-Nicola Regional District General Industrial · TNRD Zoning Bylaw No. 2400, 2012 | A caretaker's home | 4,000 m² | 60% | Not set |
| City of Abbotsford High Impact 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 |
| District of Clearwater Heavy Industrial · District of Clearwater Zoning Bylaw No. 133, 2016 | One caretaker home | 1 ha; 20 m of frontage | No maximum | No maximum |
| City of Kamloops Heavy 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 | 1 ha, 30 m wideExceptions (1)
| 60% | 30 m; structures 30 m |
| City of Kelowna Heavy Industrial · City of Kelowna Zoning Bylaw No. 12375 | A security or operator home, as a secondary use | 8,000 m², 40 m wide, 35 m deep (s. 14.10) | 80% for buildings; the zone sets no limit with hard surfaces (s. 14.12) | 18 m (accessory structures 26 m); 0.75 FAR (s. 14.14) |
| City of Nanaimo High Tech 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) | 900 m², 15 m wide, 30 m deep (s. 13.3) | 50%; 15% more where the development meets one of Schedule D's amenity categories (s. 13.6.1) | 14 m (s. 13.6.1) |
| City of Revelstoke Industrial – High Impact · City of Revelstoke Zoning Bylaw No. 2406, 2025 | No house: one employee dwelling unit a lot as an accessory use, for an owner, employee, manager, watchperson or caretaker who lives and works on the lot, at most 120 m² with one kitchen and one wet bar (ss. 8.3.2(42), 8.3.3(1), 8.3.5(10), (11); s. 3 definition) | 1,000 m², 20.0 m wide (22.0 m on a corner) (s. 8.3.4) | 50% for buildings, 60% for all hard surfaces (s. 8.3.3(6), (7)) | 12.0 m; a detached employee dwelling unit 8.0 m (s. 8.3.3(5)) |
| District of Squamish General Industrial · District of Squamish Zoning Bylaw No. 2200, 2011 | No house: one caretaker dwelling, as an accessory use, of at most 70 m² (90 m² on a lot of 0.2 ha or more if a tenth of its energy is made on site), never on its own strata title; here it may be in an accessory building (ss. 35.1(c), 4.3) | No minimum set in the zone (Section 35 has no lot size section) | 70% (s. 35.5) | 19.30 m; accessory buildings 9.14 m (ss. 35.4, 35.10(c)) |
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 I-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.