AG: Agriculture

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One home, and one more for each 4 ha of lot over 4 ha (s. 6.1.2); a secondary suite on a lot of 0.4 ha or more (ss. 6.1.1, 2.28); the zone doesn't list cottages

Main uses

Farm use, timber production and harvesting, homes, the residential and farm uses the farm needs, home occupations, a secondary suite; agri-tourist accommodation where the Agricultural Land Commission allows it (s. 6.1.1)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

4 ha (s. 6.1.8)

Lot coverage

35%, plus 40% for commercial greenhouses (s. 6.1.4)

Height limit

9 m; accessory buildings 5 m and one storey, farm and timber buildings 9 m and two storeys (s. 6.1.5)

Setbacks

7.5 m from the front and rear lot lines, 6 m from the sides (s. 6.1.6); buildings other than homes 30 m from any lot line not on a road (s. 6.1.7)

The zone is for farming (our reading of its uses); in the Agricultural Land Reserve the Agricultural Land Commission's rules apply too.

Agri-tourist accommodation (ss. 6.1.10 to 6.1.14): on a working farm classed as a farm, in the ALR and this zone, in a permitted home, up to six guests and three bedrooms with any bed and breakfast.

One named property is held to one home and an 8 ha smallest lot (ss. 6.1.3, 6.1.9).

Secondary suite (s. 2.28): one on a lot of 0.4 ha or more, inside the building that holds the house, up to 60 m² and 40% of that building, with its own outside door; never strata-titled; on a lot over 0.4 ha a suite or a cottage, not both; outside a water service area, an 18,000 L rainwater system first.

Short-term vacation rental (under a month) of the house, a cottage or a suite is a home occupation (its definition, s. 17), and a home occupation needs the premises lived in at the same time (s. 3.2); on a lot with a cottage or suite only one unit may be rented short term at once, with up to three bedrooms and four beds for paying guests counting any bed and breakfast (s. 3.13).

Bed and breakfast (s. 3.10): a home occupation with up to three guest bedrooms, counting any in a cottage; breakfast the only meal served (s. 3.7).

Home occupations (Part 3): run by someone living there, indoors, up to three people employed with at least one living on the lot, nothing showing outside but a small nameplate, no noise, glare or extra groundwater use beyond a home's.

A new home or cottage outside a water service area needs an 18,000 L cistern (s. 2.29).

Water (ss. 2.14, 2.15): buildings 7.5 m from the sea and 15 m from a lake, swamp or watercourse; septic fields 30 m from them and from any well. Homes outside the Agriculture zone stay 15 m from its edge (s. 2.17).

Site-specific exceptions listed in the bylaw by legal description can add or change uses for one property, and development permit areas, the ALR and building rules apply on top. Confirm with the Islands Trust's office for the island before you buy or build.

Source: Section 6.1 of Galiano Island Land Use Bylaw No. 127, 1999 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-11); zone map: Open Government Licence – Islands Trust.