AG: Agricultural

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One house, one secondary suite and one cottage at most (s. 5.6(2)); the cottage only on a lot of 1.2 ha or more (s. 5.6(3))

Main uses

A house, a cottage, agriculture, a secondary suite; home business, home industry, agri-tourism and agri-tourist accommodation (s. 5.6(1)); farm retail sales up to 300 m² with farm status or in the ALR (s. 3.1(10))

Smallest lot for a subdivision

16 ha (s. 5.6(12))

Lot coverage

35%, plus 40% for commercial greenhouses (s. 5.6(7))

Height limit

Homes and cottages 9.7 m (s. 3.4(1)); other buildings 4.6 m and one storey (s. 3.4(3)); farm buildings where agriculture is a principal use 10 m and two storeys within 30 m of a lot line, 15 m farther in (s. 3.4(2))

Setbacks

7.6 m from the front and rear lot lines, 6.1 m from the sides (s. 5.6(4)); farm buildings other than animal enclosures 7.5 m (s. 5.6(5)); a produce stand up to 10 m² may stand in the front setback (s. 5.6(6))

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

Cottage: up to 80 m², 90 m² in the ALR (s. 5.6(9)).

Floor area caps (s. 5.6(8)): all buildings but a suite 500 m² on a lot under 0.4 ha, 1,000 m² on 0.4 to 1.2 ha, 3,000 m² on a larger lot; the house 325, 372 and 418 m² in the same bands, and 500 m² for a house in the ALR. An older, larger house may be rebuilt to its size.

Agri-tourism and agri-tourist accommodation (s. 3.13): only on ALR land with farm status, beside a working farm, up to 5% lot coverage, 180 days a year, and 10 guests and 10 bedrooms with any bed and breakfast.

Commercial greenhouses are screened from view (s. 5.6(11)).

Secondary suite (s. 3.10): one per lot, inside the building that holds the house, up to 90 m² and 40% of the house, with its own outside door; never strata-titled, never a short-term rental or a bed and breakfast; off a community water system, an 18,000 L rainwater system first.

Short-term vacation rental (under a month) of the house or the cottage is a home business (its definition; s. 3.7): one of them per lot at a time, with the operator or someone responsible for it living in a home on the lot (s. 3.7(4), (11)).

Bed and breakfast (s. 3.7(8)): a home business in the house or cottage, up to six guests in three bedrooms, one parking space per guest bedroom.

Home businesses (s. 3.7): indoors, up to 65 m² besides a short-term rental (100 m² in the ALR), up to four outside employees with one of the employees living on the lot, no noise heard at the lot line.

A new home or cottage off a community water system needs an 18,000 L cistern (s. 3.11).

Water (s. 3.3): no building, structure or fill within 15 m of the sea or 1.5 m above it, nor 7.6 m of a lake, wetland or stream.

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 5.6 of North Pender Island Land Use Bylaw No. 224, 2022 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-11); zone map: Open Government Licence – Islands Trust.