PlaceDossier / Zoning / Zone codes
R2 zoning in BC
R2 (also written R-2, R.2) means whatever the bylaw that zones the lot says: there is no provincial R2 zone. 28 bylaws we've summarised use it, from 24 local governments. It goes by 24 names: Medium Density Residential (2 bylaws), Residential 2 (2 bylaws), Residential Two (2 bylaws), Rural 2 (2 bylaws) and 20 more. What it allows is below, bylaw by bylaw.
R2 in each bylaw
| Local government | Homes allowed | Smallest lot for a subdivision | Lot coverage | Height limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Shuswap Regional District Medium Density Residential · South Shuswap Zoning Bylaw No. 701 | Apartments, duplexes or one house; apartments and duplexes up to 25 units per hectare | 700 m² for a house, 1,000 m² for a duplex, 1,400 m² for apartments (new lots need community water and sewer) | 50% | Main buildings 11.5 m, accessory buildings 8.5 m |
| Columbia Shuswap Regional District Residential-2 · Scotch Creek/Lee Creek Zoning Bylaw No. 825 | Duplexes in a multi-residential development, up to 15 dwelling units per hectare | 2 ha (20 m wide) | 25% | 12 m |
| Regional District of Central Okanagan Duplex Housing · Regional District of Central Okanagan Zoning Bylaw No. 871 | One duplex or one single detached house (s. 9.1.10); a secondary suite only inside a single detached house (s. 3.26.1) | 880 m², with 21 m of frontage | 40% | 9 m and 3 storeys; accessory buildings 5 m |
| Regional District of East Kootenay Two Family Residential · Columbia Valley Zoning Bylaw No. 3255, 2023 | One house or one duplex, and a secondary suite | 700 m² | Not set | Main building 9 m, accessory buildings 5 m |
| Regional District of Nanaimo Rural Residential 2 · Electoral Area F Zoning and Subdivision Bylaw No. 1285, 2002 | One home per hectare of lot (s. 4.14.3), and a secondary suite with it (s. 2.18); how many homes an older lot under 1 ha may have is unclear, ask the RDN | 1 ha, with 40 m of frontage on a road (s. 4.14.3); up to half the lots in a subdivision may be 80% of that if the average holds (s. 6.7). No lot under that size may be created by a strata plan either, bare land strata aside (s. 2.23). | 25% | 10 m |
| Regional District of North Okanagan Residential Two Family · Regional District of North Okanagan Zoning Bylaw No. 3000, 2023 | Without community water and community sewer: one house with a secondary suite, or on a lot of 1 ha or more a duplex instead (s. 15.2(5)). Secondary dwellings were removed from the zone in 2024 (Bylaw 3001) | 560 m² for a house, 700 m² for a duplex, 350 m² for each half of a duplex split along its party wall, with community water and community sewer (frontage 18 m for a house, 23 m for a duplex, 11.5 m for each half); 1 ha without them; 8 ha in the ALR (or as the Agricultural Land Commission approves) | 35% (accessory buildings 7.5%, restricted farm buildings 10%) | House or duplex 11 m or three storeys, whichever is less; restricted farm buildings 10 m or two storeys; other accessory buildings 6 m |
| Sunshine Coast Regional District Single and Two Family Residential · Sunshine Coast Regional District Electoral Area A Zoning Bylaw No. 337 | One house; on a lot over 2,000 m², a duplex or a house with an auxiliary dwelling; over 4,000 m², two houses; two homes at most (s. 611). A secondary suite is allowed where the zone allows only one house or a duplex; a lot can have one secondary suite or one auxiliary dwelling, not both, and neither counts toward the zone's limit on homes (ss. 502, 506). On SCRD sewer a suite needs the SCRD's sign-off on capacity first. | Set by the lot's subdivision district, not its zone (ss. 401, 407): from 640 m² to 100 ha; a lot's report gives its district in "What you can build (zoning)", under "The record", as "Subdivision district (smallest new lot)". Lots on Ruby, Sakinaw, Hotel, Garden Bay and Mixal lakes in the larger districts need 60 m of lakeshore (s. 408) | 35% | 11 m (s. 512) |
| Sunshine Coast Regional District Residential Two · Sunshine Coast Regional District Zoning Bylaw No. 722 | One house; on a lot over 2,000 m², a house with an auxiliary dwelling; on a lot over 3,500 m², two houses, a duplex, or a house and a community care facility (s. 7.2). The density table also lists a duplex from 2,000 m² while the uses table says over 3,500 m², so a duplex between the two is unclear; ask the SCRD. A secondary suite of up to 55 m² is allowed in each house, on top of the zone's count of homes (s. 5.24); on SCRD sewer it needs the SCRD's sign-off on capacity first. | Set by the lot's subdivision district, not its zone (s. 4.2): from 1,000 m² to 100 ha; a lot's report gives its district in "What you can build (zoning)", under "The record", as "Subdivision district (smallest new lot)" | 35% up to 3,500 m², 15% above | 11 m; a house on a lot under 750 m² 8.5 m unless the lot's average slope is over 20%; a detached auxiliary dwelling or accessory building 8.5 m (s. 5.11) |
| City of Burnaby Townhouse · Burnaby Zoning Bylaw 2026, No. 14815 | Townhouses and rowhouses up to 4 storeys, with no number of homes set (one secondary suite allowed in each townhouse); and whatever the R1 district allows (s. 1.2.2). Whether R1's limits on homes, coverage and height also bind small-scale housing built here is unclear: ask the City | None set in the district; subdivision goes to the City's Approving Officer (our reading) | None set in the district; at least 30% of the lot left permeable, shown on a landscape architect's plan (Part 4-4.3) | 4 storeys (s. 1.2.4); storeys are counted through the part of the building with the most of them (Part 4-2.2) |
| District of Clearwater Compact Residential · District of Clearwater Zoning Bylaw No. 133, 2016 | One house or one duplex; a secondary suite in a house | 400 m² for a house, 600 m² for a duplex | 45%, all buildings together | Main building 10 m, accessory buildings 5 m |
| Village of Clinton Medium Density Residential · Village of Clinton Zoning Bylaw No. 607, 2025 | Apartments and other buildings of three or more homes, houses, duplexes and semi-detached pairs, with a secondary suite and an accessory dwelling unit where the lot is big enough; up to 30 homes per hectare, suites included | 350 m², 12 m wide | 60% (65% with an accessory dwelling unit) | 12 m |
| City of Coquitlam Compact Small-Scale Residential · City of Coquitlam Zoning Bylaw No. 3000, 1996 | Up to 4 homes on a lot (3 on a lot of 280 m² or less), accessory dwelling units counted, in at most two principal buildings (ss. 1003(3), (7)) | 465 m², 12.5 m wide (s. 1003(4)) | 50% for all buildings, not counting enclosed garbage and recycling structures (s. 1003(6)) | Principal buildings 11.0 m and three storeys on any face (a basement more than 1.3 m out of the ground counts as a storey); accessory buildings 3.7 m, 4.6 m with a roof of 4 in 12 or steeper (s. 1003(10)) |
| City of Fort St. John Two-Unit Housing · City of Fort St. John Zoning Bylaw No. 2470, 2019 | One house or one duplex, each home with a secondary suite, and up to two detached suites: at most 4 homes on a lot connected to City services, in at most 3 residential buildings; a duplex must hold at least 30% of the lot's residential floor area (ss. 10.3, 10.4, 4.20, 4.21) | 550 m²; 18.0 m wide for a duplex, 15.0 m for a house | 40%; at least 40% of the front yard left open with a house, 30% with a duplex | 11.0 m for the house or duplex (6.4 m wide at least); accessory buildings two storeys and 7.0 m, or the main building's height if lower |
| Denman Island Local Trust Committee Rural Residential · Denman Island Land Use Bylaw No. 186, 2008 | One single-family home per 4.0 ha of lot; one on a smaller lot (s. 3.3 Table 3); a secondary suite inside the home (s. 3.3 Table 1, s. 2.1(5)); a detached secondary dwelling unit only by Temporary Use Permit (s. 2.1(4)) | 2.0 ha, and 4.0 ha on average, no more than half the new lots under the average (s. 3.3 Table 7, s. 2.8(4)) | 25% (s. 3.3 Table 3) | 7 m for homes within 100 m of the sea, 9 m farther back; 6 m for accessory buildings; 15 m for buildings used only for farming; boathouses 4.5 m (s. 3.3 Table 4) |
| Galiano Island Local Trust Committee Rural 2 · Galiano Island Land Use Bylaw No. 127, 1999 | One home, and one more for each 4 ha of lot over 4 ha (s. 5.5.2); a cottage with each home on a lot of 0.4 ha or more (s. 5.5.3); or a secondary suite instead of a cottage, on a lot of 0.4 ha or more (s. 2.28) | 2 ha, and 4 ha on average (ss. 5.5.9, 5.5.10) | 25% (s. 5.5.4) | 9 m; accessory buildings 5 m and one storey, farm buildings 9 m, cottages 9 m (s. 5.5.5, ss. 2.5, 2.6) |
| Hornby Island Local Trust Committee Residential 2 – Large Lot · Hornby Island Land Use Bylaw No. 150, 2014 | One home on a lot under 4 ha, two on a lot of 4 ha or more (s. 8.2(2)); a secondary suite in a home on a lot of 2 ha or more (s. 8.2(1)(c)); living in a recreational vehicle is a listed use (s. 8.2(1)(b)), and how it counts against the homes allowed is unclear | 1 ha, and 2 ha on average (s. 8.2(7), (8)) | 10% on a lot of 1 ha or more, 15% on a smaller lot (s. 8.2(3)) | 8 m; 7 m within 100 m of the sea; accessory buildings 6 m (s. 3.4); farm buildings 10 m (s. 3.4(4)) |
| Thetis Island Local Trust Committee Rural 2 · Valdes Island Rural Land Use Bylaw, 1998 (Thetis Island Bylaw No. 42) | One dwelling per parcel (s. 5.2.3); no guest cottage (not among the zone's uses) and no secondary suite (our reading) | 2 ha (s. 5.2.3) | 5%, the house and accessory buildings together (s. 5.2.3) | 8 m for a dwelling, 6 m for accessory buildings and structures (s. 4.1.4); barns and water tanks aren't limited (s. 4.1.5) |
| Thetis Island Local Trust Committee Rural · Thetis Island Land Use Bylaw, 2011 (Bylaw No. 89) | One home on a lot under 8 ha (s. 5.3(c)); on 8 ha or more, one home for each full 4 ha if the owner grants a covenant against subdividing the lot, else one (s. 5.3(d)); one guest cottage on a lot of 0.8 to 8 ha, and one per home on 8 ha or more (s. 5.3(e), (f)); no secondary suite (our reading) | 2 ha, and 4 ha on average (s. 5.5) | 10% (s. 5.3(g)) | 11 m for all buildings and structures (s. 5.4(a)) |
| Thetis Island Local Trust Committee Residential Two · Thetis Associated Islands Land Use Bylaw, 2014 (Bylaw No. 94) | One dwelling per lot (s. 5.2(2)); no guest cottage or secondary suite (our reading of s. 5.2(1) and the definition of dwelling in s. 1.1) | 1 ha, and 4 ha on average (s. 5.2(7), (8)); a lot of twice the average or more made by a subdivision is covenanted against further subdivision (s. 7.3) | 25% (s. 5.2(3)) | 9 m for a dwelling, 6 m for accessory buildings and structures (s. 5.2(5), (6)) |
| City of Kamloops Residential 2 · City of Kamloops Zoning Bylaw No. 55, 2021 | Up to 4 homes on a lot (3 on an urban lot of 280 m² or less): a house, a house with a residential suite, two houses, a duplex, or small-scale multi-unit housing. Only 2 in a transit-oriented area, outside the Urban area or without City water or sewer, on a lot of 4,050 m² or more, or with limited fire flow; 1 in the Silt Bluff Red Zone or Foreset Area; the lowest applies (s. 8.2.4) | 464 m², 15 m wide and 15 m of frontageExceptions (2)
| 40% of the lot for all buildings (55% with three or more homes); accessory buildings 12% of the lot up to 112 m²; hard (impermeable) surfaces 60% | Main buildings 2 storeys, or 3 storeys and 11 m with three or more homes; structures 12 m; accessory buildings 5 m (3 m under 10 m²) |
| City of Langley Townhouse Residential · City of Langley Zoning Bylaw, 2025, No. 3300 | Townhouses and rowhouses (any building of two or more homes, plex homes and apartments among them by the bylaw's definition) and seniors' multi-unit housing, up to a floor area ratio of 1.2; the zone sets no count of homes (s. 5, R2 zone; s. 1.3)Exceptions (1)
Listed in s. 2.4(n) of the bylaw. | 1,000 m²; no frontage set. A lot split off along a party wall is at most 280 m², with at least 4.5 m of frontage (s. 5, R2 zone) | 45%; floor area at most 1.2 times the lot area, garages not counted (s. 5, R2 zone; s. 1.3) | Main buildings 11.0 m; accessory buildings and structures 7.0 m (s. 5, R2 zone) |
| Township of Langley Residential · Township of Langley Zoning Bylaw 1987 No. 2500 | One of these (s. 410.2): small-scale multi-unit housing, up to 4 homes (3 on a lot of 280 m² or less) where the lot meets the conditions below; or one duplex (two family dwelling), each of its two homes with up to one secondary suite (s. 102); or one house with either a secondary suite or one accessory dwelling unit (such as a coach house), not both | 464.5 m², 15.25 m wide, 25 m deep (s. 110.1) | 35%, or 45% where new homes are added beside a kept older house (infill housing) (s. 410.3) | Homes 9.0 m; infill housing within 7.5 m of the rear lot line 4.5 m (a coach house on a lane excepted); accessory buildings that aren't homes 3.75 m (s. 410.5) |
| Village of Lytton Multi-Unit Residential · Village of Lytton Zoning Bylaw No. 484, 1998 | A building of three or more homes, up to 70 homes per hectare; or one house or one duplex | 724.6 m², with 18.6 m of frontage (6.2 m on a cul-de-sac or for a panhandle lot) | 45% | Main building 10 m, accessory buildings 6.2 m |
| Municipality of North Cowichan Residential Restricted · Zoning Bylaw 1997, No. 2950 | Up to four homes on a lot of 280 m² to 4,050 m² (three on a smaller lot, two on a larger one), in one residential building, or a house (with or without a secondary suite) and one detached accessory home (s. 57(4)) | 890 m², with 21 m of frontage (s. 57(2), (3)) | 30% with one building of up to two homes; 35% with three or more homes or a detached accessory home (s. 57(5)) | 9 m; accessory buildings 5 m |
| City of Nanaimo Single Dwelling Residential - Small Lot · City of Nanaimo Zoning Bylaw No. 4500 | One house (s. 7.3.1), with one secondary suite; not the second suite R1 allows (s. 6.15) | 325 m², 10 m wide, 28 m deep (290 m² and 24 m deep with a lane; 11.5 m wide on a corner) (s. 7.4.1) | 40% (s. 7.6.1) | 9 m with a sloped roof (4 in 12 or steeper), 7 m with a flat one; perimeter walls 7.32 m (s. 7.6.1) |
| District of Squamish Residential 2 · District of Squamish Zoning Bylaw No. 2200, 2011 | A house or a duplex, with at most 2 homes on a lot in all, counting secondary suites and accessory dwelling units (s. 6.5(b)). An accessory dwelling unit (a detached or garage suite) can be added to a house (s. 4.38). A secondary suite isn't in the zone's list of uses, though the zone's density rules count one, so whether a house can have one is unclear: ask the District (ss. 6.1, 6.5, 4.5). The lot needs community water and sewer to build (s. 6.12) | 690 m², 18.4 m wide, 27.4 m deep; 4 ha for a property over 0.8 haExceptions (1)
Listed in s. 6.2 of the bylaw. | 33% | House or duplex 9 m; accessory dwelling unit 8 m or three storeys, whichever is less; other accessory buildings 4.58 m |
| City of Surrey Quarter Acre Residential · Surrey Zoning By-law, 1993, No. 12000 | On a lot under 4,050 m²: up to 4 homes as a house or a duplex, with secondary suites, a coach house or a garden suite (3 homes, as a house, on a lot under 280 m²), or up to 6 on an eligible lot in a Frequent Bus Stop Area; inside a Transit-Oriented Area, up to 2. On 4,050 m² or more, up to 2: a house with a suite, coach house or garden suite. At most 2 on heritage-protected land or land not connected to community water or sewer (s. B.1) | 930 m², 24 m wide, 30 m deep; 775 m² and 20 m wide where 15% of the land subdivided is kept as public open space, and up to half the lots 700 m² where 30% is (s. C.2); at most 10 lots per hectare | House 40% on a lot of 560 m² or less, down 2 points for each 93 m² more to 25% (from 1,262 m²); with a coach house or garden suite 45%, down to 30%; duplex 50%, down to 35% | House 9 m, 7.3 m with a flatter roof (10 m in a floodplain); duplex 3 storeys and 11 m, 9.3 m with a flatter roof (12 m); coach house or garden suite 2 storeys and 7 m, roof peak 8.3 m, 6.5 m with a flatter roof (8.5 m); accessory buildings 4 m (5 m where roof and materials match the house) |
| City of Victoria Two Family Dwelling District · City of Victoria Zoning Regulation Bylaw No. 80-159 | A duplex (two homes), or anything the R1-B zone allows under its rules; or more homes under s. 52 or Schedule P (below): up to 4 housing units on a lot over 280 m² (3 on smaller lots, 6 near a frequent bus stop), or a houseplex or corner townhouse in the Residential Fabric. Whether a lot qualifies we don't check: ask the City | 555 m², and 277.5 m² a home; 15 m wide on average (s. 2.1.2); a panhandle lot 700 m², 18 m wide (Schedule H) | 40%, with open site space of 30% of the lot and 33% of the rear yard (s. 2.1.6); under s. 52 or Schedule P, 40% with 45% open site space | Duplex 7.6 m and 2 storeys (1½ with a basement), no roof deck; public building 11 m (or the lot's width if less) and 2½ storeys; garden suite 3.5 m (4.2 m on a plus site); accessory buildings 3.5 m; under s. 52 or Schedule P, 11 m (12 m with a pitched roof) |
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 R2 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.